The Sky At Night

[Scouse]

Grrrrr n' stuff.

I missed the Sky at Night on the beeb ten days ago. I quite enjoy my fix of Patrick Moore and his bunch of ugly astronomy geeks.

So, I popped up iplayer to have a look but to no avail. Then I went to BBC - BBC One Programmes - The Sky at Night and followed the linkies thinking "yay, space!"

The beeb won't let me watch it


Seriously, I'd be less perturbed if Auntie stopped me watching on-demand Top Gear - at least I know I'd be able to watch it on Dave in six years or so. But The Sky at Night always has information relevant to the month it's shown in

 

[Zenith.UK]

Go find a download of it.
It's worth hanging onto, for the view from the new cupola on the ISS if nothing else. It's got a feeling of impending finality about it with the Shuttle fleet about to be grounded.

Thing is that I'm making a special effort to watch Sky At Night in recent times because I get the same impending feeling with Sir Patrick Moore. He's not getting any younger and it is obvious that Chris Lintott is being groomed for the role when Sir Patrick steps down. I'd personally prefer Brian May to take over in that case. It's one thing to be qualified and knowledgable. You also need a certain "star" quality which Brian has, but Chris doesn't.

There's also the possibility that an extended edition might get aired on BBC4 in the near future.

 

[Furr]

There's also Dr Brian Cox, he's working on new follow on series from planets called Wonders of the Universe, yay

 

[Scouse]

Downloading now

I agree about Patrick. He'll get over excited about a picture of Europa, or something, and it'll be all over

I'd love Brian May to do it and I totally agree about Chris Lintott - he's pretty dull.

However, when Chris gets the gig it'll be a triumph for all geekdom so I hope he does

 

[Roo Stercogburn]

I read Patrick Moore's sci-fi novels as a kid. He didn't do many but they were quite good fun I seem to remember

 

[Tom]

You never know, Moore might have another 20 years. You can never tell when someone's time is up.

 

[dysfunction]

Moore's time is up already. Brian cox is far more engaging and makes science a lot more interesting

 

[Scouse]

Moore's time is up already. Brian cox is far more engaging and makes science a lot more interesting

Do you even watch the sky at night?


Brian Cox's programs are in no way comparable. They're more like David Attenborough in space. The sky at night is a completely different sort of program and never the twain shall meet, so to say...

 

[dysfunction]

I have done and found the majority of it really old fashioned and stale and in some cases Moore is asking questions about things he already knows the answer to...which I find very dull indeed.

 

[Scouse]

It's an enthusiasts program, not a "lets get kids interested in science" program.

They tell you where certain celestial bodies are going to be at which times of the month that the program is shown. Coxy can't do that...

 

[dysfunction]

I know what it's about. i just think it's had it's day and should move on to become a bit more innovative...

 

[Zenith.UK]

I have done and found the majority of it really old fashioned and stale and in some cases Moore is asking questions about things he already knows the answer to...which I find very dull indeed.

There can be episodes like that, but sometimes you get an utter gem of an episode.
Ones that stand out in my mind were the Giotto probe to Halley's Comet in 1986, first light for Hubble in 1990, Galileo approaching Jupiter in 1995, Cassini/Huygens approaching Saturn in 2004/2005 and the 50th aniversary episode was just an excuse to have a laugh.

This week's episode was another one worth watching to hold on to. I want to see a LOT more of the cupola on the ISS.

 

[old.user4556]

Regarding Brian Cox's programmes, things can only get better.

 

[ford prefect]

I must admit I am a big fan of The Sky at Night, and Patrick Moore in general. He makes me smile every time. Nobody can nod off, while keeping their eyes open and then wake up in the middle of an interview like and bluster some unrelated question or fact at his guest expert like good old Patrick.

He is a national treasure.