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Small Island on BBC

16 years ago

I've just come to know that Small Island by Andrea Levy will be dramatised on the BBC next month

grelobe

p.s. it is not an old piece off news... is it?

Here is a link that might be useful: Small Island - BBC

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Comments (6)

veer
16 years ago
grelobe, I'm fairly sure it was due to be shown in October but I don't think it was, and can find nothing about when/why not etc. (of course I could have missed it)
The BBC quite often change dates of performances without giving any information. I remember they were due to show the second series of Cranford last Christmas and we are still waiting for it!

A clip below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Small Island
carolyn_ky
16 years ago
Last year's Cranford is being rerun on our PBS station starting Sunday night.
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If you are putting your sink in the peninsula - especially a main/cleanup sink - then I strongly recommend an 18" overhang - but no less than 15". A 12" overhang will not allow someone to sit there when anything is going on at the sink - prepping, cleaning up, etc. If you don't have enough room in the DR, then consider either eliminating the seating (especially b/c it's right next to the DR table) or moving the peninsula into the kitchen 6" or so more than it is now. Even without a sink, you should have at least 15" of clear knee/leg space. To accommodate a 15" overhang, your peninsula should be 41.5" deep (1.5" overhang + 24" deep cabinet + 1" decorative door or finished panel on the back of the cabinets + 15" overhang). For an 18" overhang, it should be 44.5" deep. You want a deep enough overhang to: (1) Minimize splashing - you should have at least 18" from the faucet stem to the edge of the seating overhang (2) Keep dirty dishes out of the faces of those sitting at the counter. This is one of the disadvantages of sinks in islands and peninsulas - especially when the island or peninsula is not deep enough...dirty dishes are "in the face" of anyone sitting at the counter. (3) Allow comfortable seating - where you don't have to straddle the cabinets, sit sideways, or lean far over to reach the counter. If you're trying to "save space", be aware that people take up the same amount of space even if you skimp on overhang - they just have to sit farther away from the counter and lean farther in...unless, of course, they're sitting sideways - which means you need more than 24" of linear space per seat - or if they're straddling the cabinets - which again means more than 24" of linear space per seat. Oh, and speaking from real-life experience - sitting sideways and twisting around to face the counter is very uncomfortable for more than a couple of minutes. Ditto for straddling cabinets. If everyone in your family is very short and has short legs (and will always be very short), then 12" might work for leg space - but it does not fix the splashing issue. I can't imagine doing anything in a 12" space with water right there. I certainly would not want to do homework, crafts, read, eat, etc. unless the sink were empty and I didn't need any real space for what I was doing.
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I'm just going to second everything Buehl said. I get that you can live with an aisle or two that's 36"-39". And you can live with an obstacle island. I almost did, until Buehl came to my rescue and completely redesigned our kitchen - perfection to the nth degree now, and perfect for our lifestyle. Though not finished, our cabinets and appliances are in, and our most narrow aisle is 45" - for just me (DH rarely enters my kingdom when I'm cooking!). I am so glad I didn't go with the narrow aisles. I'd like to add, with full extension drawers, those aisles make a nice difference. My dear neighbor had a small movable island which was never moved, obstacle, 38" aisles on all sides. At first she used it, to eat, to do prep, and it was fine for her. In 3 months she stopped using it altogether for eating or prep work, and only used it to set dishes and food on when transferring it to another area - a holding area, if you will. Everyone is different, I know. Just wanted to add my 2 cents, and reaffirm that the extra aisle space means everything to this diminutive cook : )
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couldn't you also do that with cabinets that have toe kicks? Just drill a hole through the base cabinet to fit the line? Ang-p, I suppose that is possible but you would need to do so in the process of installing the cabs, not after installation. And have to put up with having the water line in the way while the cabs are installed. More do-able if there is no toe kick backer attached to the cabinets. I like the back ledger/ leg levelers in front system better. For one thing the back of the cab is already level & the only adjustment then is to the front legs. The big plus is that if the line ever leaks, then the cabs aren't sitting in a puddle and soaking up water. And the line will be easy to replace. In an already installed kitchen, a small water line could, in most cases, also be routed through the interior of the cabinet--but at the risk of cabinet damage if the line ever leaks.
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martin_z
16 years ago
No, Vee, I don't think you've missed it yet. I've been keeping an eye out for it too...

I don't really understand what the holdup is. You can even get the book with the BBC tie-in cover saying "As seen on BBC".

Talking of which - have you got in the US that awful edition of "A Christmas Carol" with "NOW A MAJOR FILM" emblazoned all over it? I saw it in Waterstones yesterday and had a severe case of the old fogeys....
martin_z
16 years ago
Small Island starts this Sunday on BBC1 at 9:00 pm.

(And about time too.)
veer
16 years ago
I watched both episodes of Small Island and feel that without having read the book the story-line/plot might confuse a viewer coming to it 'fresh', as it jumped about from pre to post War very confusingly. The Jamaicans were shown to be full of old-fashioned courtesy and charm and nearly all the English as racist, ignorant pigs.
The part of the story in which Queenie, Michael and the elderly f-in-law attempt to go to the 'pictures' where Michael is set on by US GI's and beaten up and the old man is shot, was SO confusing that it would make little sense to someone unfamiliar with the story.
The characters of Hortense and Bernard were nicely played as they appeared in the book and came over as proudly superior and quietly wimpish.
Another confusion was that Belfast had to stand-in for war-torn London during location shots and it just doesn't look 'right'.

Here is a link that might be useful: Small Island review from Telegraph
dido1
16 years ago
I caught Ep.2 only (watched it last night -recorded) and have never read the book but had no difficulty in picking up what was what and who was who. I thought it was all a bit schematic and the characters, once established, could never deviate from what they had been shown to be - could never surprise us. For instance, I wanted to shake the teacher-lady for always reacting in the same way and never learning from any experience. Was she meant to be quite so stupid? White was always black and black always white, if you'll excuse the play on words. I'm rather glad I missed Ep. 1 so that I didn't waste any more time on it. It was watchable, don't mistake me, but rather dull and predictable.

Has anyone ever read Muriel Spark's short story THE BLACK MADONNA? Now that, with similar themes, IS surprising and wickedly ironic.... I loved it.

Dido

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