Unthinkable Wings

We have resumed our watching of The Americans, as I've been on a bit of a spy kick lately - I've been reading Ben MacIntyre and rewatching Tinker, Tailor and Smiley's People.

If I had any icon slots left, I'd make one of Elizabeth Jennings captioned "Moscow Centre Hood".

Is anyone else watching Deutschland 83? I'm rather enjoying it.

Rev. is back!

I watched last week's episode in my old theological college, whence I had gone for a few days on the 'Deacons' Retreat'. It wasn't much of a retreat, but there was a lot of reflection and listening to each other, and I found the whole thing exhausting but unexpectedly healing. Bits of theological college were good, but bits of it made me profoundly unhappy, and I think that's a (worryingly?) common experience.

Anyway, yesterday I caught up with Monday's episode, which I think was the best they've done in ages (though I do wonder what any non-church people in the audience make of it).

( Anyone who cares has probably seen it but - spoilers anyway )

Can we deduce from Julian Fellowes' slightly shaky grasp of how (pre-)eclampsia works that he's not a Call The Midwife fan?

Incidentally, I finally got round to watching Call the Midwife, which was originally brought to my attention by Sam Wollaston slagging it off. I should have taken this as a recommendation, but I actually didn't go and look for it until Fr Vice-Principal talked about it in his address at morning Mass.

Anyway, it's very good - it's the story of a newly qualified midwife in the fities who takes a job at what she thinks is a private hospital, but turns out to be a community of Anglican nuns whorun a midwifery service in Poplar.

I don't know how accurate the midwifery is, but it's a very good portrayal of a religious community as made up of actual human beings, and the rhythm of its life, sympathetically portrayed without being saccherinely pious, it's well acted, and there are a lot of believable female characters. It passes the Bechdel test without any effort.

Possibly worth noting that episode 2 (I missed the first one) contains a distressing story about a fifteen year old prostitute and a church agency's treatment of her, which while not "The Magdalene Laundries" doesn't give her anything approaching a happy ending. It's also possibly not a great watch if you're overly squeamish about childbirth, though mostly it made me intensely grateful for modern medicine. That apart, though, I'd strongly recommend it (and you can always look away at the bloody bits, they don't predominate).

Just caught up with Rev. Ouch.

(Also, I continue to think that Alex is far too good for Adam, but mostly I want to give the Archdeacon a hug).

Article about Downton Abbey, from the Grauniad. I invariably find Tanya Gold slightly irritating* (and how she found the miscarriage scene funny beats me, though I suspect it's sloppy writing/ editing - there's another paragraph towards the end that doesn't seem to make sense), but there's some interesting snippets with Julian Fellowes, Hugh Bonneville, and others from the cast, as well as the Caernarvons, and Alastair Bruce, the historical adviser, who is "still getting over Braveheart.


* I find her irritating here despite the fact that I'd agree that Downton is at times a very sanitised portrait of the 'big house.'

Lawyer and I just watched Rev. Cue horrified laughter, and the occasional cry of "why do I want to do this again?"

But really, very well observed (I loved the horrible cheap vicarage, with the crucifixes in odd places, comedy nun salt and pepper shakers, and piles of books on the draining board). Because like it or not - and however wet and middle-of-the-road the Rev'd Smallbone is - those are my people. God help me. I'm pretty sure I've met the Archdeacon.

(Also, it is very funny, in a cynical black-hearted way - but also with bits where the faith-stuff rings true, though I hope I succeed in developing more of a pulpit presence than Adam).

I am really rather looking forward to seeing what this new series - Rev, starring Tom Hollander as in inner city vicar - is like, particularly after reading a longer piece on it in the Church Times (which, irritatingly, isn't available online). It sounds as if they've really done their research and it will have a recognisable relationship to reality, for a start, which already gives it a head start over "Vicar of Dibley" or "All Gas and Gaiters"... (For a start, they bothered to work out the vicar's churchmanship - liberal, middle of the road, would-like-to-be-higher-but-the-parish-won't-have-it - which is fairly fundamental to any cleric's identity, but I don't get the impression anyone considered that in Dibley, and All Gas and Gaiters is mostly office politics anyway).