A Night on the Telly

Short post on here this evening, I've been astonishingly lazy today. Church this morning, back home for a late lunch, take Jasper for his ordinary walk, back home and spent the rest of the afternoon playing a silly game, "Bastion" on the pad sitting in the Conservatory and then an evening watching the telly.

I really enjoyed a programme called, "Fake or Fortune" which is fronted by a reporter / presenter called Fiona Bruce. It looks at pieces of art whose provenance is questionable. They then try to prove, using the latest forensic techniques, whether the painting in question is a real work of art, or a fake. Tonight, they were looking at a small painting called "The Blue Dancer" which, it was claimed, was by Edgar Degas.

A fascinating programme proved, step by step, that the painting was quite genuine. They followed the line of provenance, step by step, from Degas original sale, through to the German family that owned it until 1945 and finally on to the English family who own it today. The programme ended with the receipt of the letter from the French company who publish the definitive list of Degas' work. It was their acceptance that this was a legitimate Degas that made all the difference.

 

And then, at nine o'clock, the return off "Downton Abbey". Back for it's third series it has now entered the 1920's. This time we have the added bonus of Shirley MacLaine in the production. I have loved her ever since Sweet Charity.

Oh, I know it isn't high art, and the cognoscenti will turn up their noses and pop down to the Royal Opera House for a spot of "Don Juan" sung entirely in Spanish. But opera bores me to death. I find I'm just not interested in listening to it, not at all. But I do like a good costume drama, and like 9 million other Brits, I love Downton Abbey. I bet the Royal Opera House would say thank you very much for those numbers.

 

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