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BBC2 Tonight (Monday)

Charlie

Charlie

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
There's a programme on BBC2 tonight - Ian Hislop "Do Gooders". Apparently, he walks along the canal at Water Street Birmingham, and talks about George Dawson (buried at Key Hill). Might be worth a look.
 
Just been advertised and I might have persuaded Pete to watch it. Didn't realise Carl Chinn was a part of it?. Jean.
 
I found the program a bit intellectual for me. I also found it embarrassing that the statue of such an important man like George Dawson should be shut away in Dolman Street storage. The magnificent memorial
at Key Hill Cemetery was put in place ten years after his death by the public........such was his importance.
 
I thoght the programme brilliant, but did not go into sufficient depth for me. I know quite a bit about George Dawson and was very disappointed at the choice of photograph - he was quite a handsome man. I feel it shoud have concentrated on just two people per programme, then more could have been said. Poor Carl Chinn seemed to have been cut off in his prime - he could have said a lot more. I think that it is a shame that the history of Birmingham's greats is not taught in schools. I was lucky, I was given a book when I was about eight, produced by Birmingham Gas Department, giving a lot about the history, so I started early to know about these people.
 
This programme should have been really good but I thought it was awful. The bit about Birmingham was interesting but it could have been so much better. It was not viewer friendly and looked as if it had been edited by amateurs - a big, disappointing :thumbsdown: from me.
 
pollypops said:
This programme should have been really good but I thought it was awful. The bit about Birmingham was interesting but it could have been so much better. It was not viewer friendly and looked as if it had been edited by amateurs - a big, disappointing :thumbsdown: from me.
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I so agree, the presenter had little personality and having the charisma and vocabularly of a classics professor at Cambridge. A mere 9 minutes was dedicated to George Dawson, the depth of content not really reflecting how great this man may have been.
 
I know Carl Chinn is a big favourite on this site, but I still think he doesn't do us 'Brunnies' any favours when he speaks on national television, in that broad Brummie accent,
just my opinion Nick
 
hi nick..just my opinion here....i for one would much rather carl be himself rather than try to cover up with a false accent of where he was born.. ive been to many of his slide shows over the years and met him many times and the way he presents them makes the history of brum come alive.....he is very proud of his roots as are most of us i would think and accent should have no bearing what so ever to a true brummie...:)

lyn
 
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I never noticed that Carl Chinn has a Brummy acs aks acs Accent, (can't even spell it), he is just a big hearted honest man,who is passionate about his home town...almost has much as our own Lyn.
 
I am sure Carl Chinn is ferociously proud of his working class Brummie roots and has never found the need for elocution lessons. Admittedly, there will be those that dislike the flat vowels of the Birmingham accent just as others will have a loathing of the scouse, geordie and Scottish accents. Personal taste of course, but regional accents are so much richer than standard BBC pronounciation. Carls accent has certainly put no barriers in his career progression to Professor of History at a red brick university and being a national authority of Midlands history. I personally enjoy his passion of history richly embroidered in a classic Brummie accent.
 
Having a 'posh'accent is no guide to a persons ability, on the contrary, In my career I met all sorts, some of those with BBC accents, were , to put it in the vernacular,'as thick as a lodging house sandwich'
 
Further to Carl Chinn's accent.His mode of speech is exactly the same as my own (without the profanity:rolleyes:) therefore...he has a well modulated voice with perfect pitch and tone.:)
 
I have met Carl Chinn several times, some official, some not, and I also know people who have known him for years. His accent was not always like that, a lot os put on for the sake of being known as a Brummie. He is an immensely likeable man, who remembers everyone's name, even if he has only met them once, but my view of him was somewhat clouded when I met a man who went to school with him and said 'I knew him before he had his accent'. I also do not think that the accent paints Brummies in a very good light, I am a Brummie but I do not speak like that, and frankly, do not wish to. I know what John meant about Ian Hislop, however. Hislop is a witty, and very clever man, but I agree he comes across as having had a personality bypass. I was still pleased to have something on television that had a serious subject at its heart, despite it being in small 'sound bytes' (which irritates the pants off me). Television offers us too much light hearted celebrity dross these days.
 
Only my opinion but I found Carl Chinn the most enjoyable part of this programme. He spoke about George Dawson and Birmingham with passion and genuine interest - instead of sounding as if he was reading it from a stuffy book or script.
 
brummie nick said:
I know Carl Chinn is a big favourite on this site, but I still think he doesn't do us 'Brunnies' any favours when he speaks on national television, in that broad Brummie accent,
just my opinion Nick
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I live in a land of a million dialects and the people are proud of it. In the past my guts turned inside out when I heard so-called "posh" English spoken on the BBC. The recent use of local dialects and accents felt like a breath of fresh air. When are Brummies going to wake up to the fact that their dialect is beautiful and unique! While typing this I'm listening to BRMB on my PC just so that I can catch that accent. :)

I thought the whole program really good and certainly up to BBC docu standard; loved it, Graham.
 
Brilliant, Graham !!! I had never thought of that ..... already got Russ Morris on. Thanks very much, David
 
I enjoyed it, even though I thought it was a bit rushed...but then, I've always been interested in social reformers (Do Gooders? Dumbing down?) I have no problem with Carl's dialect and I enjoy the way he speaks with passion about Birmingham - someone has to! I think Ian Hislop was taken aback by Carl's passion for local history.
I do agree with Wendy though about George Dawson's statue being in store, it WAS embarrassing! Surely they could find a space for him in the City Centre somewhere.
 
I have found the comments about Carl very interesting. I also have met him many times and he was in the early days of this forum going to do a brilliant night at the Barn. If you remember I pulled the plug on this event after being told that hecklers were going to disrupt the evening. Carl was brilliant and fully understood why I did it. As for his accent the one person on here who knows Carl best is our John Houghton. As far as I know he has always had this accent, I asked my cousin who knew him when he was younger. He always laughs at the story of my cousin who was the chief librarian at central library for 25 years. When Carl was studying he came in asking for a certain book she went and asked if it was OK for him to have it...........looked a bit dodgy (her words) Sorry Carl I know you look at the forum now and again:D

Charlie do agree I think Ian Hislop was a bit scared of Carl because he is so passionate........The programme was worth watching just for that bit:D
 
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talking about snobs, many years ago when I was a member of the "Institute of Comany Directors" they had many meetings but once a year at the "Carlton Towers Hotel" london,we each had a room and we ordered a daily paper, mine have always been daily express, daily mirror, imagine my suprise and outrage when the person leading the delegation pulled me aside and asked me not to order the mirror as there had been complaints from the floor who though it demenered the institute?. of course I totally ignored this request.
paul
 
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