Famous and Fearless bullshit

[anfieldman]

According to tonights programme Swildons has now moved to Dartmoor, Jacobs ladder is now a 200 foot drop and the bottom of the cave is now at the bottom of the Twenty.  :icon_321:
Why must the media constantly make things up when they employ knowledgable people who can give them the facts straight?

Nice shot of Ken and Bru though!

 

[menacer]

?? Link Mark ??? 

 

[cap n chris]

But Mark, didn't you say Ken popped round to say it was a load of nonsense but that's what the director wanted it to be like.

 

[anfieldman]

But Mark, didn't you say Ken popped round to say it was a load of nonsense but that's what the director wanted it to be like.

What I actually said was that Ken told me the director wanted him to unnerve the lovely lady and they wanted it to look as frightening as possible. Ken being a decent chap didn't really want to portray things like that and in the programme all he said was that it is dark and wet and mostly mental (in terms of your fears). Ken's bit was fine, it was what they had Chris Evans reading out whilst the film was running that was nonsense.
How can anybody know what the final screening would look like once they have cut and edited the bits?

Here you go Carm...  http://www.channel4.com/programmes/famous-and-fearless/4od
Tonights episode should be available on there soon. 

 

[mrodoc]

Don't worry the Beeb transplanted Pridhamsleigh Cavern to North Devon not long ago!

 

[cap n chris]

I expect they used the region Dartmoor instead of Mendip `cos "it's close enough" and most ignorami have heard of the former but would shrug and go "u-whaaaaat?" at the latter.

 

[AndyF]

Don't you know that to londoners, anywhere West of Bristol is "Dartmoor", inhabited only by ponies and the SAS. Don't forget EasyJet fly planes from London to Newquay.... :thumbsdown:...... its practically a foreign country

 

[Andrew W]

http://famousandfearless.channel4.com/videos

One of the videos on the above link has just the caving section so you don't have to watch the rest of this dross. Great footage of the cave but a shame about the twat doing the voiceover. :thumbsdown:

 

[Peter Burgess]

Don't you know that to londoners, anywhere West of Bristol is "Dartmoor", inhabited only by ponies and the SAS. Don't forget EasyJet fly planes from London to Newquay.... :thumbsdown:...... its practically a foreign country

Not true. Air Southwest and Flybe operate a service to "London" Gatwick. EasyJet are not currently using Newquay.

"London" Gatwick is actually in Sussex and is not in "London". But then why should people who live in the former Danelaw be expected to know anything about the Southeast? It's a different country up there!  :tease:

 

[finster]

Just show's the power of tv, what a crock of shit! Now there's a load of people out there who are now terrified of caving! It's a shame that they couldn't have done a realistic job on it with out all of Evans hipe! Even Kate Humbles effort was better than that!

 

[Burt]

In defense of Ken and Bru, they were "up agaist it" in many ways on that day. I went caving with Ken a few days back and he was describing the problems of faffing on the surface, the director not wanting to do some things and not being very forceful, and the fact that the surface temperature and associated faff meant that the group energy level was down somewhat.

Doesn't the media run on the principle of "never let the facts get in the way of a good story"?

 

[Peter Burgess]

My experience with Talkback Thames (Great British Railway Journeys)  last year was quite the opposite. They were anxious to get the facts right, and reliably used the historical information provided. This meant dropping one or two "story lines" they had hoped to use. They were prone to coming to the wrong conclusions once or twice, though.

There is patently a difference in approach between "reality" TV and factual documentaries. I use the word "reality" very reluctantly.

 

[Stupot]

The BIGGEST load utter w*nk I have ever watched - The plaque pissed me off, making out that he was in the cave when he actually passed away in a car accident.

Switched it off after 3 minutes.

No offence to Bru and Ken though - You looked great 

Stu.

 

[tony from suffolk]

That was just hilarious! Unbelievable utter bollocks!

The trouble is, so much of the stuff on these sort of programs is believed implicitly by Joe Public. You can forgive the odd mistake but that was deliberately faked.

 

[Alex]

Over hyping it could be a good thing, because those who are adventorous enough would want to take it up because it is scarey, who otherwise may not because of the hype.

So in my view this sort of publicity is not that bad. Though yes they should try to get some of the facts right.

On a personal note when I was alot yonger after seeing the program "999 rescue" made me want to do caving even more!

 

[gus horsley]

Doesn't the media run on the principle of "never let the facts get in the way of a good story"?

A long time ago I used to know a guy in West Wales whose wife had connections high up in the BBC.  One day their dog went missing and so it was decided to do a "documentary" about the Search For Kai, thereby providing a convenient source of income as they were a bit skint.  The programme featured a helmet-clad motorcyclist who travelled the length and breadth of the UK, finally discovering the dog in the Midlands after several weeks.  The dog was overcome with joy at being reunited with it's master.

The reality was that the guy bought a motorbike and rode it into a tree after a couple of miles, spent the duration at home with a broken leg and was bitten by the dog (who hated him anyway) when a local farmer found it wandering about and returned it after a couple of days.  The motorcyclist and dog in the film were both doubles.

Since then I've never watched a TV programme without a hint of cynicism.

 

[j4nny]

All ?News? is constructed; I am a complete cynic when it comes to the media. Facts are few and far between, and we only see what they think we should. Its an elaborate method of attempting to control the population now (most) people are literate.

 

[cap n chris]

The long standing tradition of hyping caving may result in some predictable consequences:

* Firstly lots of people wouldn't go near it with a barge pole, thus meaning conservation scores a massive winner, but the numbers dwindle and we are at risk of being a sidelined, trivial, uninsurable and easily extinguished-by-diktat minority interest group.
* Lots of people who particularly like the idea of dangerous shizzle take up caving and quickly become dismayed when they discover that it's safer than eating peanuts or walking along a pavement.
* Lots of macho bullshit gets spouted by people who want to prolong the myth rather than explode it.
* Every time thereafter that caving gets in the media "sane" people remind themselves of their wise choice to refrain from ever engaging with it, thus reinforcing the earlier points above.

 

[Slug]

I'll have to agree with Peter on this one.
Obviously, one was a fact based semi-documentary, the other was (and I use this word loosley) "Entertainment", the sort that is aimed at the type of people who obsess about Football, and the Celeberity culture, and who think that Big Brother is quality programming ( and that Orwell is a river in Suffolk  )

In contrast, the Kate Humble programme was quite well made, and presented caving in a positive light.

I suppose the one good point about this pile of cak, is, that if it scares and puts off it's own target audience from going caving in the first place, we should all rejoice.

 

[Les W]

and that Orwell is a river in Suffolk

Not sure that those sort of people even know where Suffolk is.  :-\