Bill Bryson Notes from a Small Island
★ 7.0·1999·1 seasons · 6 episodes·Series
DocumentaryComedy
Synopsis
Following his enormously successful book "Notes From a Small Island", American travel writer Bill Bryson sets off on a new tour of Britain. Starting at Dover, where he recalls his first disembarkation in 1973 to a land of rain, sweet tea and disagreeable land-ladies, his travels take him from Poole in the South to the Western Isles of Scotland. Along the way he encounters such colourful characters as the pipe smokers of Solihull, ballroom dancers in Blackpool and the caber tossers of Glenfinnan. Bryson brings all his perspective eye, dry wit and outbursts of comic exasperation to this affectionate survey of the British way of life.
Episodes
Season 11
Episode 1In the first episode in his affectionate survey of Britain, Bill hails a London cab driven by Stephen Fry before traveling to Liverpool to take a ferry across the Mersey and discuss Scouse humor with Alexei Sayle. Along the way his attention is caught by a proliferation of blue plaques, a forgotten tale of failed revolution, and a little-known subterranean kingdom.25m2
Episode 2Bill salutes a uniquely British genius - the ability to fill any idle moment with a diversion, hobby or obsession. He meets the horn dancers of Abbots Bromley, caber tossers in Glenfinnan, ballroom dancers in Blackpool and a fell runner in the Lake District. Then, in a Bournemouth beach hut on a wet afternoon, he puts it all into perspective in conversation with Victoria Wood.25m3
Episode 3Bill continues his journey with a search for the country's soul. Is it to be found in the capital, on a seaside pier, out in the country side, or on a mountain peak? Or must he leave the mainland to understand what is special about being British?25m4
Episode 4The Japanese recognize the British genius for invention; they've calculated that sixty per cent of "the things we take for granted" came out of a British mind. Join Bill as he tries to understand what makes the inhabitants of this small island so good at innovation.25m5
Episode 5"I'm not into dukes and earls - outside of jazz music", states Bill, who examines two very different views of the way in which heritage forms the backbone of Britain. From Blenheim Palace to a Glaswegian pub and on to a socialite who spends more on her clothes than a colliery band spends on their brass instruments, Bill observes Britain's heritage, north and south.25m6
Episode 6In this final program, Bill returns to the spot in Britain that means the most to him, and travels from a south-coast geology lesson with adventurer Redmond O'Hanlon to the north most tip of mainland Britain - somewhere more remote and more beautiful than even John O'Groats.25m
Episode 1In the first episode in his affectionate survey of Britain, Bill hails a London cab driven by Stephen Fry before traveling to Liverpool to take a ferry across the Mersey and discuss Scouse humor with Alexei Sayle. Along the way his attention is caught by a proliferation of blue plaques, a forgotten tale of failed revolution, and a little-known subterranean kingdom.25m2Episode 2Bill salutes a uniquely British genius - the ability to fill any idle moment with a diversion, hobby or obsession. He meets the horn dancers of Abbots Bromley, caber tossers in Glenfinnan, ballroom dancers in Blackpool and a fell runner in the Lake District. Then, in a Bournemouth beach hut on a wet afternoon, he puts it all into perspective in conversation with Victoria Wood.25m3Episode 3Bill continues his journey with a search for the country's soul. Is it to be found in the capital, on a seaside pier, out in the country side, or on a mountain peak? Or must he leave the mainland to understand what is special about being British?25m4Episode 4The Japanese recognize the British genius for invention; they've calculated that sixty per cent of "the things we take for granted" came out of a British mind. Join Bill as he tries to understand what makes the inhabitants of this small island so good at innovation.25m5Episode 5"I'm not into dukes and earls - outside of jazz music", states Bill, who examines two very different views of the way in which heritage forms the backbone of Britain. From Blenheim Palace to a Glaswegian pub and on to a socialite who spends more on her clothes than a colliery band spends on their brass instruments, Bill observes Britain's heritage, north and south.25m6Episode 6In this final program, Bill returns to the spot in Britain that means the most to him, and travels from a south-coast geology lesson with adventurer Redmond O'Hanlon to the north most tip of mainland Britain - somewhere more remote and more beautiful than even John O'Groats.25mCast
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