Rubbish documentaries

[499BC]

Being a bit of a gardening obsessive I was quite looking forward to 'The Wonder of Weeds' on the beeb. Well, I missed it but caught up with it on iPlayer on Saturday.
It quickly became obvious it was going to be yet another waste of space. The facts were thinly spread and there were lots of shots of wavering wild flowers and the presenter staring at the wondrous plants. As always in these programs there were repeated shots of the same things (in case we forgot?).

Any advice for the gardener with a plot full of weeds? - zero of course
Somehow you are supposed to love weeds from now on. Sit back and watch them grow whilst your veg patch becomes a jungle.

There are too many documentaries that are padded out with rubbish like this - what a waste

[lauragill]

I was very disappointed in the last Secrets of the Dead on PBS, the one on the Carthaginians in the New World. No solid evidence, all conjecture. Not up to the show's usual standards.

[MLE (Emily Cotton)]

Ah, documentary crud--I was sent a copy of a National Geographic program on the conquest of Peru by a friend who was sure I would want it. (My llamas and I would often be hired to come give talks at schools on this subject.) What a load of misinformation! I would have thought better of National Geographic. It was worse than the History Channel's take on the same subject.

I'm a storyteller, so I know that it's important to keep the consumer's interest with a good story, but history IS a good story without all this sloppy invention. Do a little work, screenwriters! If you learn the subject deep and wide, you can easily put together a dramatic narrative using nothing but the facts.

[lauragill]

I did post my impressions of the U.S. version of Atlantis: Birth of a Legend on my blog.

Not as good a docudrama as Pompeii: The Last Day.