PBS is a great way to learn about British and European History

My love of British TV series on PBS began with Lord Peter Wimsey and Upstairs Downstairs during my college days in the 70’s. I became infatuated with wanting to explore the UK, especially London.

First visit and stay there in 1972, last visit WIMBELDON in 2022.

Many return trips in between. Been fun to watch neighborhood transformations. The best transformation is how London has evolved food wise. Once dreadful ( no apologies but jellied eels, marmite suck) it’s now food mecca.

Used to volunteer at KQED and KTEH in San Francisco and San Jose.

So PBS propelled my love affair with London and the UK.

Even wrote an article about the filming of the Inspector George Gently series for the LMGI’s Compass magazine. The show filmed in Durham.

Every year I contribute my hard earned cash to maintain the existence of PBS!!!

Hail PBS and thank you!

I love Marmite.

PBS is practically the only tv I watch. I am a member so I get and use Passport, too. I am also addicted to BritBox. All of these feed my addiction and love for English history & culture. I watched the coronation on BritBox live and the next day the Concert on PBS. Love Lucy Worsley. I watched reruns of Henry VIII's wives just last night. I'll look for Cousins as that is a new one to me. Thanks.

Claudia....I LOVE George Gently. I forgot PBS is how I discovered Rick Steves back in the 1980s. So another thank you to PBS.

I am also a hard core PBS viewer , I haven't watched any commercial TV for more than fifty years . The list of notable programming they have provided would easily fill a book , but here is one of my most loved programs from over forty years ago - If you've ever dreamed of traveling from one end of England to a far reach of Scotland , Michael Palin (of Monty Python Notoriety ) will guide you there - https://youtu.be/mYi1qLUAJJI

Marmite has a very distinctive flavor. The taste is (so) unique as to defy description, but think of a yeasty, salty, soy sauce-esque flavor with the consistency of old engine oil.

Thankfully in the US we have a Constitutional protection from "cruel and unusual punishment"

I think the Second Amendment applies to Marmite, though!

I can't live without Marmite, which was a problem during lock down as production of it ground to a near halt due beer production similarly dropping off and it was nigh on impossible to get the 500g jars.

Marmite on toast with poached eggs is a perfect combination.

I love PBS which i watch most of the time but there are other platforms that offer a lot too… Britbox, Acorn and Starz. I just watched an 8 episode series on Starz about Catherine de Medici, called The Serpent Queen, which was exceptional. Starz has many more like this one which i plan to watch as well.

I forgot where I heard it but someone once described the people who take Rick Steves tours as the "PBS crowd."

I found it to be true.

What you see on PBS are usually normal TV programmes in the UK. If shown on the BBC, they are without adverts but us Brits have to pay the yearly TV licence fee for that and you can’t dodge it even if you don’t watch the BBC. It is worth every penny.

When visiting the UK, you might want to check out the schedules on BBC 1/2, ITV 1, Channel 4 and Channel 5 as these are the 5 main channels with BBC 1 and ITV 1 having the bulk of the viewers. These 5 main channels come in free to air from transmitters and freesat.
If using hotel televisions, you will probably find the HD versions on 101 > 105. You will find the whole range of programmes from dreary soaps to sport and documentaries and movies. You will even find a programme about the Countryside/Farming called ‘Countryfile’ on BBC 1 on Sundays around 6pm. You might also like ‘Escape to the Country’ which often runs on weekdays BBC 1 around 3pm - but I guess you would then be out on your roaming.

James,

PBS is always ad free in the US, more or less. There are sponsors mentioned before and after the programs. One can join PBS and get a gift and other perks if one chooses and a lot of people do choose to donate. There are different levels of membership.

I think British Television is excellent and you can subscribe to British TV programming such as BritBox.

Laurie Beth

I do not recall the entire name of the series I refer to as Cousins. I only know that Cousins is in the title.

Update: I did a search and I believe that this is the series:

Royal Cousins at War
TV Mini Series
2014

I’m not sure if these are available anywhere in the US, but I highly recommend what I tend to call Portillo on a Train but I think are actually called various things like Great British Railway Journeys and Great Continental Railway Journeys - there are also Indian, Asian and even American variants. The latest series is Great Coastal Railway Journeys, around the coast of the UK.

Michael Portillo was once a highly unpopular Conservative politician whose ousting at the 1997 General Election is known as the Portillo Moment. He’s since reinvented himself as a somewhat camp and stilted TV travel host but the programmes are incredibly informative and beautifully shot.

He gets on a train, gets off, has highly scripted but very interesting chats with experts about a historical or geographical or scientific point of interest (always prefaced with “hello, I’m Michael” and I want someone to say “yeah, I know, mate.”) Then he gets back on the train and goes to another interesting stop.

Anyway. They’ve actually inspired some of my own travels (including the exciting time when I got the train that goes on a ferry between Hamburg and Copenhagen). And despite being so stilted, they’re very watchable and always interesting.

bostonphil7 > When I was in the US I came across PBS (which is also free but with ads in the UK) and was amazed at how long the begging for money to support the channel went on for. Most people in the UK would have switched off!

Portillo’s Great Train Journeys has been mentioned. I hope than no foreigners think that these journeys are “Great’ as they often do not show the best routes you can take in Britain. They are often a mish mash of journeys linked by a theme with various people to interview appearing along the route. They rarely say anything about the train or the route and I really wonder if he might just as well be driving from place to place? Anyway, worth watching all the same and the present series on coastal journeys is currently going out on BBC 2 weekdays at 6.30pm. Wonder where he gets his cloths as I would like a pink jacket with green trousers? (Yes, I am joking).

Channel 4 has also had several Train Journey based programmes - see link but this probably won’t work outside UK:>https://www.channel4.com/programmes/britains-scenic-railways

Channel 5 in the UK has also done similar programmes with journeys all over the world.

Golden Girl

As you probably know, we have mediocre rail passage in the USA aka Amtrak. I love trains. Shame we do not have better service.

I am going to London in October but to take a cruise from Southampton.

You are right James.

It seems that PBS is forever begging for money. They show incredible programming during the begging period or the fundraising period as they call it.

Every 15 minutes of content, the next 15 is fundraising aka begging.

But that is also when you can get some great deals if you contribute including from R S

Long before my first trip to Europe, I watched the Sherlock Holmes Granada series and Ms.Marple. That convinced me I had to go to London! And of course PBS was where I first saw Rick Steves with his "Adventures in Europe."

Both during and right after university, I worked at two PBS stations.

At the first station, we had a daily half hour newscast. , Since I was on air "talent"--and I use the term loosely--I was conscripted to go on air during "begathon." Always on a day I had off.

I worked behind the scenes at my second station so I didn't have to take part.

I always thought there had to be a better way to do it but stations are afraid to change. They really do get a lot of money this way.

I just don’t get this begging for money thing on PBS N America. Surely, with your massive population, they must have enough eyeballs to be able to get advertisers? Being as the type of programmes they have are likely to appeal to the more wealthy ABC socio-economic class - all the more reason for advertisers to use PBS. On PBS UK (yes the same PBS that you have in the USA) we don’t get all this begging stuff but they have adverts instead and these are time limited. We would simply not put up with the lengthy begging slots and hence, they would lose viewers. Perhaps they lose potential viewers in the USA because of the begging slots - unless you can record the programmes and skim through to the actual programmes?

It is interesting to compare television and transport systems between your home country and the way things are done elsewhere. Travel is not about seeing the tourist attractions.

Amtrak has been mentioned. As I understand it, many of the tracks in the USA are owned by the freight companies and this could be one of the problems? In the UK, freight trains have to pull over into passing loops (if a dedicated freight track is not available) in order to let passenger trains pass. A new high speed line (230 mph) is currently being built from London to Birmingham with a second phase continuing northward to Crewe/ Manchester planned. You can read about it here.

just don’t get this begging for money thing on PBS N America. Surely, with your massive population, they must have enough eyeballs to be able to get advertisers?

PBS doesn't have advertising--like the BBC. There is also no TV license to help fund it.

Trains were very popular in the U.S. until Henry Ford came up with a way to manufacture cars inexpensively. Then it became a goal of Americans to own car.

There was even a political slogan in the 1932 presidential campaign associated with Herbert Hoover--"A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage."

The car could take people on short trips.

Then the plane came about and that took care of long distances. Passenger trains became less popular.

Surprisingly, new regional trains are being developed in popular areas: Miami to Orlando and Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

Well, I am watching The Boleyn's on PBS.

What a bunch of back stabbers everyone was. No one could trust anyone else. One day. you are in and I mean in and the next day, you are out and I mean seriously out. It was all about power and money, I guess, not much different than it has ever been. Not much different from today.

I think the subjects who never got close to Court might have been the lucky ones.

bostonphil7 , I confess to being a bit lazy at the moment , and didn't look back , but I'm assuming you have PBS passport ? Since you are enjoying The Boleyns , look into this one from 2017 " Queen Elizabeth's Secret Agents " If you thought The Boleyns and their circle were backstabbers , they were peanuts compared to the Queen and her operation .

I couldn't resist this - " Secrets of Chatsworth " One of the grand English country houses , located in The Peak District , Derbyshire , this PBS documentary is a fascinating overview of a segment of English history and political power . A grand place to visit , I'll be spending a week in the peak District this coming Autumn, and returning for another visit - https://youtu.be/lF9qKPDg9sA

PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) and NPR (National Public Radio) are publicly funded through corporate donations, endowments, and yes "Viewers like YOU, Thank You". Here in the states we are saturated with "adverts" on our broadcast commercial television stations/networks and cable television as well. I for one will gladly endure a periodic "pledge drive" on either PBS or NPR just to not have to sit through mind numbing commercial breaks (although PBS has succumbed to squeeking in some corporate sponsored ads here and there, sigh...) PBS Passport is wonderful and I donate to them monthly. I have also been a volunteer on the phone for pledge drives at my local NPR station in the past. My hubby worked for awhile at a local PBS station as well. Yes, PBS is also where I first learned of Rick Steves and also (dear to my heart) All Creatures Great and Small in the '70s and '80s (and the remake), Monty Python's Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, I could go on and on! Love me some PBS and NPR! You are correct bostonphil7!

I just finished watching the video on Chatsworth. Fascinating! Thanks.

steven.

I do not have Passport but I think that I have seen Queen Elizabeth's Secret Agents.

I sometimes think that the ordinary every day people might be the lucky ones.

UPDATE: I just did some research about Queen Elizabeth's Secret Agents and did see some or maybe all on PBS. It has been a while

As I just said, maybe we more ordinary people are really the lucky ones.

We're currently watching Happy Valley (S3 E3) from BBCA(merica)HD. Like about 90% of what we watch, we recorded it. Our DVR is definitely our friend.

We have one TV. Our service is provided by DirecTV via satellite. There is no other option where we live. We subscribe to no premium channels. We'd love to subscribe to BritBox except for this little detail from their website: "All you need to get started is an internet connection - no cable or satellite subscription required."

We have a Samsung smart TV, but our CenturyLink provided DSL Wi-Fi is so slow that streaming anything is impossible, even on our devices. That's no big deal since neither of us is a fan of watching anything on them anyway.

I'm a long time PBS/NPR contributor and I get regular emails about our local AZPM (Arizona Public Media) programming. About 65% of what we record comes from our local PBS channel. Besides that we're dependent on channels like Ovation, National Geographic, the History Channel, Turner Classic Movies, FX (looking forward to Justified: City Primeval) and a few others for programming we like. If they have commercials, we just fast forward through them.

At 77 (me) and 75 (my husband) not having access to some things is a small price to pay for the peace, quiet, wildlife and dark skies we have where we live, at least for now. But if we do have to move into town, BritBox will be high on our "gotta haves" list.

@Sally travels , I'm glad you enjoyed the program !