Anglophiles, check in.

[nytemare]

It's true. I like most anything to do with the U.K., GB or Scotland.

Monty Python, Mr Bean, French and Saunders, Fry and Laurie, Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, The Beatles, Genesis (esp. Peter Gabriel), Coldplay, Michael Caine, Tim Curry, Hugo Weaving (who seems half Brit, half Australian)Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Tilda Swinton, Kate Winslet.

I even tend to watch BBC when I just want the news read to me, and not a bunch of false emotion or feigned interest.

Comedy, Music, Movies, actors, I pretty much like everything.

Anyone else? If so, share what you like about our mates across the pond.

[CBHagman]

1. When I was a university student...

...I found Marx so boring (Engels was better) that I tried reading it aloud with what I thought was a BBC accent.

I've been an Anglophile for most of my life and will watch nearly any program or movie that deals with British history (Well, I'm not crazy about the Mel Gibson thingie, but that's another thread). But bring on the comedies, the literary adaptations, the broadside ballads and other folk music, the Purcell and Elgar, the plays and poems and novels.

In no particular order, here are some of my favorites. There may be American or other international involvement with some of these, but the themes are generally British.

TV shows: As Time Goes By, Coupling, Waiting for God, The Last of the Summer Wine (Yeah, I'm watching PBS).

films: In the Bleak Midwinter (also known as A Midwinter's Tale), Hobson's Choice, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sense Sensibility, Cold Comfort Farm

mini-series: Our Mutual Friend (1990s version), Bleak House (2005), The Jury, Prime Suspect, the House of Cards trilogy

actors: too many to name, though I will put in a kind word for Robson Green and Jane Horrocks, both of whom deserve to be better known in the States.

[nytemare]

2. Thanks for sharing!

I will be on the lookout for the recommendations.

:hi:

[CBHagman]

10. Forgot Kate Rusby.

I'm particularly fond of her album Underneath the Stars.

http://www.katerusby.com/

Are you looking for general recommendations regarding TV, recordings, DVDs, and theater? Now there's a wealth of material. I treated myself to Royal Shakespeare Company performance a couple of Christmases ago, and once I sneaked into a Derek Jacobi talk. But I still kick myself for missing Alan Rickman on Broadway in Private Lives.

[nytemare]

11. Alan Rickman, how could I forget him?

I recently bought a DVD called "Snow Cake" that he was just wonderful in. And, I love his voice.

I guess I should add Ewan McGregor to the list, as well.

[OzarkDem]

3. My Christmas present to myself

was a DVD set of Laurel & Hardy movies and shorts. Been watching all during the holidays. Also got the Marx Brothers set.

[nytemare]

4. Which Laurel and Hardy set did you get?

I want to get the definitive set, which is about 200 dollars. Bozo owns the US rights, so it seems very hard to get a good collection.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

5. Duran Duran, Robert Palmer,Doctor Who,Torchwood ...

Phil Collins, George Michael, Peter Gabriel, Eurythmics,The Police, Human League ... thats all I could name right now ...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. Right! Quite the Anglophile here

Not their colonial history, but their mystery writers, television, films, and choral music, as well as the way in which they support the arts. Their countryside is beautiful, too, and oh, those accents!

[Deja Q]

7. My ancestry is Scottish, and most anything from the UK tends to be more intellectual

Mind you, a lot of what's made recently is a bit dumbed down, but still - compare it to American television and then wonder...

[datasuspect]

24. intellectual? i take it you've never been to croydon?

[mitchum]

26. But...but...but..it's a country filled with nothing but Noel Cowards...

and not a single yob!

[datasuspect]

27. americans get to see idealized britons on teevee and movies

the reality is often less engaging and proper.

innit?

[mitchum]

28. Right, guv'nor!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

30. Yes, there are some really appalling lowlifes in the UK

but the educated people seem to be more widely knowledgeable and verbally adept than the average American of a similar educational level.

[Dr. Strange]

8. Red Dwarf?

:thumbsup:

[DS1]

9. Spooks, Top Gear, Keeley Hazel, and me

:D

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. I maintain that the UK has the most beautiful flag of all countries.

[Blue-Jay]

13. I do NOT get turned on by dead people!

buncha sickos....

[MorningGlow]

14. Oh lordy, that's me

Been one most of my life. When I was a young 'un, my faves were Dr. Who, Monty Python, Doctor in the House, Butterflies, Hitchhiker's Guide, Beatles--and every other '60s British Invasion band. When I was at a high school dance with guys from the boys high school (I went to an all-girls Catholic school), I damn near died when a British exchange student asked me to dance.

When I got a wee bit older, I was in my glory with the second British Invasion in the '80s. I even got to go to London for a month in '86--thought I'd explode from sheer Anglophile fulfillment. I could've died a happy expat there. (And took every British lit class I could in college--especially loved Arthurian lit.)

Favorite food: pub grub, of course.

I haven't changed much. Mr. MG says that if there's a British accent and costumes, I'm at that movie (or in front of the TV)...and he's right. Lately I'll rewatch UK miniseries at the drop of a hat, especially Pride and Prejudice, Sex, Chips & Rock 'n' Roll, and Ballykissangel.

Lately I've been spending every free moment devouring the book Death and the Maidens, about Shelley's influence on the Wollstonecraft girls.

And there isn't one British drop of blood in me. I'm 100 percent Sicilian. Go figure.

[mitchum]

15. Hell no, but then again, I'm French :)

[libnnc]

16. Present and accounted for

Cheers thanks a lot...

[nytemare]

18. That picture of French and Saunders is hilarious.

I must find that sketch on Youtube.

[RedXIII]

17. Plus in fact it was the british that..

Increased the sound of rock music and made it into heavy metal.

Rawk on!

[mitchum]

22. Detroit's own MC5 and Stooges beg to differ...

as does the timeline :)

[datasuspect]

23. san francisco's blue cheer was doing it before all of them

[mitchum]

25. You're right about that...

and I guess LA's Iron Butterfly would also qualify

[Reverend_Smitty]

19. Right here!

I especially love British comedy. I just got season 3 and 4 of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" and Season 1 of "Peep Show" on DVD for Christmas

Blackadder, Father Ted, Alan Partridge, French and Saunders and of course Python are some other of my absolute favs

[Anarcho-Socialist]

21. Peep Show is fantastic

and it keeps getting better and better

[Reverend_Smitty]

29. Oh I know

David Mitchell is such a funny guy, I just wish they would put the rest of the seasons out on region 1 DVD because I'm certainly not going to get nailed with the exchange rate buying region 2 (as well as a new DVD player)

Oh well I guess I'm just stuck with the episodes that "mysteriously" appeared on my computer from the internets :P

[harmonicon]

20. +'s: Doctor Who, Black Books, etc. -'s: food, driving, opening hours for stores...

....and most everything else. I moved to England last year, and all in all it's good, but some things about it drive me crazy. Ok, TV is so much better, that I don't even know what to say..... Doctor Who is on 4 or 5 nights a week - The Simpsons too (yeah, it's not British, but they know a good thing when they see it).

But there a loads of things I don't like, such as not being able to get the good, simple comfort foods I'm used to. They don't have corn chips! WTF?! Ok, some stores have some that are overly salty and only sold in tiny bags.... maybe not even enough to make a plate of nachos small. Not that it would matter, because they don't have black beans. Really. No black beans. Because of this, I have no feedback to give about salsa options, or sour cream. They also don't have mac and cheese! And peanut butter isn't very good.... and comes in tiny jars.... because it's exotic.

Still, if you've never watched Black Books, do yourself a favor and rent or buy a DVD. One of the funniest television programs ever.... though I don't think it's in reruns - I only have it on DVD myself.

[Whoa_Nelly]

31. Per your sig pic, you'll like this!

:hi: