Episode 19 Points of View

I'm Scott Mills. With Mr Vine away this week,

it's my pleasure to bring you the show that lets you

have your say on the BBC's television programmes.

This week, the explosive new Saturday night drama

that got you all fired up, and with just hours to go

until Blue Planet II lands on our screens,

we've been asking you

about your favourite wildlife moments from the BBC.

All that and more coming up - welcome to your Points Of View.

Yes, so Sunday afternoons,

I'm normally just on the sofa watching Strictly.

Scott, you're on.

Oh! Good afternoon.

Delighted to be back here looking after things while Jeremy's away.

First up this week, last Saturday night saw the touchpaper lit

on the BBC's latest historical drama.

Recounting the tale of the 1605 plot of the same name,

Gunpowder stars Kit Harrington as rebel Robert Catesby.

The series opened with King James I's men arriving

at the site of a covert Mass, on the hunt for hidden Jesuit priests.

Get up!

Put him to his knees.

Things really did not end well

for two of the participants in that scene.

Later, viewers saw the lady of the house get crushed to death

before a young priest was disembowelled.

I'll spare you clips of that.

Though the scenes came after the watershed

and a warning was given before the programme commenced,

you felt showing the grisly goings on was a step too far.

Well, there was last night's Strictly Halloween special,

but carry on, Chris.

After those scenes sparked a bit of an uproar,

the BBC issued this statement.

Not everyone found the drama's guts and gore to be a turn-off, though.

There's no need to wait, Jean. If you've got the stomach for it,

all three episodes of Gunpowder are available on the BBC iPlayer now.

Next, the quite interesting quiz show

making a recent return to BBC TWO.

With Sandi Toksvig back at the helm for a second series,

QI bounced back onto our screens the Friday before last

in a show that saw Sandi and Alan Davies

joined by Bill Bailey, Phill Jupitus and Claudia Winkleman.

-I like oology, whatever that is.

-Oology - what do we reckon?

That is the study of how much nans think you've grown.

That opening episode marked the start of series O of QI

and "O", how you loved it.

Hang on, is that the right e-mail?

Well, thank goodness you were able

to contain yourself, DalnacraigMusic!

Gaining an extra hour in bed this morning was a sure sign

autumn is well and truly upon us, as was the reappearance

of wildlife watching series Autumnwatch on BBC TWO this week.

Returning to the scene of this year's Springwatch,

the Sherborne Park Estate, Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan

and Martin Hughes-Games caught up with some of the characters

we'd met way back in June, including a family of barn owls.

There obviously was enough food during the later spring

and the summer after we left and all of them grew up

and shared that nest together

and I'm very pleased to tell you that all three fledged.

There was plenty of praise for the presenters, with Chris Packham,

star of the previous week's documentary about Asperger's,

singled out in particular.

But perhaps quite rightly, it was the animals

that really stole the show

with you quick to point out your natural favourite.

He pulls at that string, pulls it out. There it is. He's got it.

2017 is proving to be a big year for the part of the BBC

responsible for bringing Autumnwatch to our screens.

Not only does tonight see the launch of the Natural History Unit's

latest blockbuster series Blue Planet II,

but the department is also celebrating its 60th anniversary.

To mark that occasion,

we set off to track down some fans of the natural world

and hear about their most memorable moments

from the BBC's animal archive.

The natural world is full of extraordinary animals

with amazing life histories.

The animals I like watching on TV are turtles.

Big cats, because they run really fast.

Cats, dogs, possibly penguins.

Giraffes, because they have really long necks.

My favourite natural history moment is

when the two giraffes were fighting.

You could see, like, they were angry at each other

and it just made me, like, really laugh.

The bit that really stands out for me

with David Attenborough was in the forest with the mountain gorillas.

Sometimes they even allow others to join in.

Really touching moment. They were really engaging with him.

Our favourite natural history moment was

when the snake was chasing the iguana.

-I thought that was really, like, intense.

-Yeah.

-It was so good.

There were loads of snakes just chasing loads of little iguanas.

DRAMATIC MUSIC

I remember when the lizard was running on the water.

It was like lizard ballet. Very funny.

Favourite moment has to be the moment where there was

a colony of penguins and they were trying to get into family groups

by building their nests with rocks.

And there was this one particular penguin that would

go around alone, stealing the rocks from the other ones.

My favourite moment is when the mountain ibex were climbing

down the cliff.

I was really scared that they were going to fall down

but thankfully they didn't and they all made it across safely.

BLEATING

Hopefully those magical wildlife moments were enough to "tide"

you over until Blue Planet II tonight.

GROANING Tough crowd.

Moving on. Comedian Sue Perkins recently set sail on a new adventure

on BBC One.

I'm so sorry. So sorry.

After a previous excursion down the Mekong River,

this time, Sue's travelling the length of the Ganges.

In the three-part series' opening episode,

Sue met hermits and holy people at the river's source

before encountering a yogi with a keen interest in climate change.

How far do you think the glacier has retreated in the last 50 years?

You think it's retreated 3.5 km?

In 50 years?

This is like a sort of very, very beautifully told horror story.

This one definitely seemed to float your boat.

Yet Sue's sense of humour hasn't been everyone's cup of tea.

Sue's trip along the Ganges comes to an end this Thursday on BBC One.

Also dividing opinion this week was BBC Four's most recent foray

into the world of slow TV.

Monday night's A Year In An English Garden, Flicker + Pulse,

combined real-time and time-lapse footage to portray

the passing of time in a Sussex walled garden.

Autumn feels like an ending and a beginning.

Featuring ambient music and the occasional

musings of gardeners, the programme was a calming treat for some.

But the soundtrack that accompanied footage of plants flourishing

and fading wasn't music to everyone's ears.

From the seasonal serenity of a country garden to battling bots,

who says the BBC doesn't offer variety?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Returning last Sunday for a new series, Robot Wars sees

teams of amateur robot builders send their metal machines into combat.

This year the show sports a fresh format,

introducing new twists like a Fog of War hazard.

-COMMENTATOR:

-I've no idea what's going on!

Sabretooth there.

Trying to spin - oh, they couldn't see through the fog.

They couldn't see the floor flipper coming.

Tweaks to an existing format don't always go down well

but in this instance you felt the show was smashing it. Literally.

And finally this week, fans of the military drama The Last Post

have called a Scottish-themed slip-up to our "Attention!"

See if you can spot it in this freeze-frame from the credits.

Nope? Reveal all, Martin.

Quite right.

Presuming the actor involved wasn't playing a protective

spray for fabrics, that title should have read Royal Scots Guard.

The programme makers know the drill. They sent us this.

That's it for this week,

but whether you're bowled over by tonight's Blue Planet II

or left feeling let down after Inspector George Gently's

final outing tomorrow,

please do keep your points of view on the week's TV coming.

You can e-mail us:

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Jeremy is back in the hot seat next Sunday

here on BBC One at the much earlier time of 1:15.

That's due to football, apparently.

So set your generic hard disk recorders now.

Thanks very much for having me. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.