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With all the options for watching shows on television as a result of streaming, the ability to customize our viewing experience is easy to do. And if you’re reading this post, there’s a very good chance you’re an Anglophile, or at least Anglophile-curious. Subscribing to BritBox, AcornTV or PBS Masterpiece/Passport, if you’re like me, it’s not an ‘or’, it’s an ‘and’. Definitely should, as most of the shows I watch regularly are either British or French (MHz choice for the latter).
Having said that, streaming British programming, even BBC iPlayer, for several years now, I’ve noticed trends in my thinking while watching and in my daily life that weren’t present before the availability of British television today, and I just have to laugh.
So whether you’re an avid cozy mystery sleuth, a garden enthusiast, a dream to bake in a tent with amateur bakers that you anxiously live in, or some other British programming regularly ends your days when you want to turn on the television, you probably recognize some (or all) of the trends listed below, and if you discover others, please share. We all want another reason to smile.
1. You offer tea as a welcome or anytime you invite someoneInstead of coffee or a glass of wine or beer
2. When someone says series, you default to understanding it as a ‘season’ of a particular show (UK) rather than a show (US).
3. You can instantly recognize British actors who appear in new programs and share CVs from past shows they’ve starred in.
4. When prioritizing your travel itinerary, South Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire (where Midsomer Murders was filmed) and other show locales are at the top.Instead of the usual British tourist destinations – London Eye, Buckingham Palace, etc.
5. Comfortable mystery buffs! As you know well-established British actors/actresses, when they appear in a single episode, you know they are criminals/murderers.
6. You can instantly identify a trug and anticipate a scene or two or three in the garden in one form or another on most shows..
7. Not only do you understand British slang and slang when you use it, you start using it in conversation.
8. Speaking of gardens, clematis is not pronounced with emphasis on ‘mat’ as is done in the US, but instead ‘clay’.
9. Dogs and cats in the garden are always, someone missing if they are not present with the gardener
10. Gardening is a recognized hobby for everyone, and not for rent. Part of the joy of gardening is gardening yourself!
11. When you hear a Hollywood reference, your mind goes to the Bake-Off tent.
12. Speaking of Great British Bake-Off, You now tend to watch baking/cooking programs that are calming rather than stressful
13. Another one from GBBO! When you see a big white tent, you immediately smile and dream about sweet baked goods
14. Hearing the word Chelsea immediately brings to mind flowers and gardening
15. Back to tea, it’s your favorite drink and your favorite tea leaves and tips for keeping your tea leaves hot.
16. Three seasons/series in a show is normal and not expected to run long (unless it Midsomer Murders, Father Brown or Death in Paradisefor example)
17. Similarly, the number of episodes in a season/series is understood to be around 3-5, and it seems quite special.
18. You know the exact ingredients of the true comfort secret
19. Waking up too early (if you’re in the States or around the Pacific) to watch an event live in the UK – a royal wedding, coronation, Wimbledon match, about to happen, no questions asked.
20. You recognize your favorite show’s theme music
21. No wrong pronunciation Here! Poirot is pronounced without the ‘t’ (and you know which French-speaking country he’s from), Morse should not be pronounced as Maurice, and Downton Abbey Not ‘downtown’.
22. You know which shows are spin-offs or prequels to other British shows and which characters are handled and how (in the case of effort And Morse for example)
Now, some lists out there suggest that those of us who watch a lot of British TV share such a tendency that we might watch too much, but I suggest we celebrate finding our community, a community that shares how much we enjoy watching British television. Happy viewing!
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