Lurch said:
Yah think?
For me this is the weakest Ray series so far.
It's even been a bit of a chore to watch to be honest, same old stuff we've seen before but with added bloke from the Open University.
I think the problem is not in the programmes, but in the people watching. Ray makes the subject very interesting; To most people it is a new subject. As far as I know he has not covered the hunter-gatherer point of view in any of his other programmes, not in such depth or with the help of an expert.
It is an interesting subject, however, if it is one that you have read up on or seen before, you think Oh I know this already and stop concentrating. So you miss the stuff that you might only half know, or in my case not know at all.
The programme from a newbies point of view is very interesting, my wife and daughter (who is only eight) loves the new programmes, to them the information is all new, their view is not so jaundice or offhand about new places or things that Ray is showing them.
I guess it is like this site, old-timers (not in age but in length spent on this site) have to face a computer screen peppered with new threads asking questions, questions that have already been asked countless times before. Repeatedly Ive seen terse and somewhat blunt admonishments to use the search function or check these threads as your question have been answered about a million time
I come to this site from a back ground of wild camping, and when I found the site I drenched myself in reading everything I could on anything. Now I am slightly more selective in what I read, however I still try and read all the new threads, even if its subject is something I am not interested in or actively disagree with (bob-cat hunting for example)
I am (but I shouldnt be) surprised, by the amount you can learn just by reading other peoples take on things that you think you know already. I thought I knew all about running trap-line, but clearly I didnt as I didnt know the distance you have to cover in some of the more southern states of the USA (in Alaska you expect a trap line to be dozens of miles long, but I thought that the rest of the USA you just set a trap in your lower 40 and Robert was your mothers brother.)
I tend to watch DVDs more than once, I always read books more than once, and if Ray presents old facts in new ways then I am all for learning a new angle on an old subject. Im not too big to admit learning new stuff doesnt come easy for me, (it took me over a week to learn to drive a car) the more times and ways I am shown, the better my understanding will eventually be.
I dont think there is much wrong with the programmes, apart from the arty flashy lights. Even if I learn only one thing from each programme it means I know five things that I never knew before.