Episode 1: 9th Jan - What did you think?

BritBrat

I watched it, Martin can really talk fast cant he ?????? PLS SLOW DOWN!!!!

But then it would not be Martin.

But he better slow down when married.

al_yrpal

I am a pretty fit, lively and mentally agile 65 year old, but found Martin just too manic to be watchable. He seems to be just like those 32 year olds who print their business cards with small grey print that is unreadable, unaware of how some other people will struggle with it, only to write the deliverer off (surely not the point of a business card!).

He is obviously unaware of this, or, it seems he is only trying to get his message to 20 year olds who can grasp all the facts in his delivery pumped out like a machine gun at 105dB, with certain words emphasised at 130dB.

Great content Martin - poor delivery, and as for the onlooking studio audience, it looked like a cheap imitation of Clarkson's.

Doesn't do Martin justice

Al

lou031205

Hi, I have only watched the youtube extra show, but I think it had good and bad points.

Ruth definitely didn't look her best, which is odd, because her profile on the website shows her looking much more comfortably dressed. It's a minor point, but it did stick out as distract me (and I am a woman, not very into fashion. Imagine what it did to someone who really cares!)

Certainly in the question time, it seemed as if she was acting as a 'middle(wo)man' between the guests and Martin - asking each guest if they understood Martin - thanking them for coming, etc. Martin seems like a friendly, polite man who could handle an information card himself. I think Ruth might be better off in a supportive role rather than simply 'framing' the content.

I agree re: audience, with many others. You either need to have sufficient audience to justify them all standing, or get a bunch of chairs for this smaller audience to sit in. Small audience standing just looks odd!

Also, I felt that some of the references to producers, directors, lawyers, etc, seemed to make a big deal that this is a television programme. "I'm being told just one more question..." I personally feel that this detracts from the 'spontaneous' feel that the programme is trying to create by being live, because it is somehow indicating that there are constraints that Martin is having to work to - which of course there are, but we don't need to be reminded of it.

Now onto the positives:
Yes, Martin does talk very fast, but as I watched, I found it an exciting pace. Who wants someone talking so slowly and calmly that they seem totally uninterested? As long as there is an opportunity to follow up with written detailed info (i.e. website), then it will achieve more than many shows.

I thought, again personally, the best bit is that Martin tries to steer away from easy answers to complex question, and takes the time to state that things are complicated. Nothing worse than a show where someone says "This is really easy, and there is one definite answer..." - cue hundreds of discouraged viewers when they try to take action and realise that it is a bit more complicated than they thought.

The programme is all about giving the public information to empower them to stand up for their rights - about time!!

MothballsWallet

I've seen Martin on other shows (such as The Wright Stuff) and heard him on radio (Jeremy Vine on Radio 2). He does talk a bit slower there, but he's still the same Martin - enthusiastic and wanting to impart knowledge (and opinion in the case of Wright Stuff).

I think there may be a different attitude to timing on radio than TV. With radio, you've generally got a presenter, guest(s) and a producer/engineer working on the show. On TV, you've got a presenter, guest(s), camera people, sound engineers, director, producer and floor manager, to name just a few. And I've forgotten where I was going with this, sorry!

ab48uk

MothballsWallet wrote: »

I think there may be a different attitude to timing on radio than TV. With radio, you've generally got a presenter, guest(s) and a producer/engineer working on the show. On TV, you've got a presenter, guest(s), camera people, sound engineers, director, producer and floor manager, to name just a few. And I've forgotten where I was going with this, sorry!

Don't forget the poor Autocue operator. I bet this has already gone on their CV - I kept pace with Martin Lewis!

You are right about the timings of course. Pretty much any TV programme has to come out on time to within half a second.

harryhound

Hi Moneysavers and fans,

As a member who reported on the dress rehearsal, http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=7754233
here are my impressions of the finished broadcast:

It came out right on the night! The presenters and their guests delivered a good performance and the directors/producers stitched it together into a seamless performance.

I think Martin, unlike Northern Wreck, has got his business model spot on:
On Friday there was an interesting (BBC) “Five Live” item about the sales of The Sun falling below 3,000,000 because more and more of us get our information and entertainment on the World Wide Web. A pundit was wheeled on and posed the following question: Which newspaper has the most visited web site? The answer is The Sun and it won’t be many years before the web site takes more advertising revenue than the paper does.

The TV program must entertain before it can inform, it must build its audience so it will then act as a portal to the web site. Getting more users on the website should mean, we all benefit from the extra revenue raised, and hopefully complacent companies feel the cold breath of competition for our business. If I had a popular story and I wanted to reach the largest audience, I would not take it to (say) a Sunday paper’s financial supplement, that would be preaching to signed up members of “Which?”. I would take it to The Sun readership, where it would be needed and more effective.

(When the Channel Tunnel first opened The Sun tried to buy tickets on the first train, to offer as prizes. The Channel Tunnel company refused to sell them, presumably thinking that the winners would “lower the tone”. The Sun had great fun pointing out it had more A, B & C1 readers than the Daily Telegraph.).

I have now had a chance to consider the points already made on this thread and review my original posting and consider the useful points made by ab48uk.

The selected but unscripted questions and answers session, shown on the web site, is the best bit. It has a more spontaneous feel. (Anybody know how to make the image bigger, albeit more fuzzy?) . To quote John Humphrys, the Radio4 presenter of “Today”, on this week’s “Desert Island Discs” – Reading an Autocue is not a job for a grown man.

Martin’s Speed of delivery: Someone needs to take over Patrick Moore’s role on the box?

Ruth Liptrot: If she did not exist, we would have to invent her. Look at it from the producer’s point of view; Martin gets the current lurgy, or even gets stuck in traffic, on his way to the studio, what happens to the “live” program? It is a very difficult role to fill – I am thinking of the problems that “The Big Breakfast” had getting appropriate female presenters to act as a foil to its fast talking male presenter. We will have to see if the appropriate “chemistry” develops.

David Kuo at The motley fool (www.fool.co.UK): I would be surprised if Martin was not aware of someone who does a similar job to his. However, the Fool is a more focused, specialised site than MSE. (I was disappointed when the Fool censored postings about a fraud that was being discussed on MSE & another site. I suppose as MSE gets more and more successful, then the lawyers, not to mention denial of service attacks, may become more of a problem.)

Lembit Opik: Can we work in a plug for http://www.theyworkforyou.com next week?

Flying Pigs: I liked these little mascots. Not sure what it would cost, but I would think of giving each member of the audience a pin on pig. It could double as a name badge, cloakroom ticket and when taken home could be used as (say) a fridge magnet memento.

“Green Room”: I thought offering members of the audience a drink in Cafe Rouge was a nice touch; reserving an area for the audience using an “A” board, could encourage a party atmosphere and help “warm them up”. (Can we have a new smilie? Or should I use these to express irony :rolleyes:;)meaning simulated ignorance.)

Plan of the Whiteley Centre: When Mrs. Hound and I arrived at the South entrance, having a “P” was our number one priority. We soon discovered that the public toilets are under repair and the substitutes are a couple of Portacabins, parked on the roof top car park, at the rear of the centre. Having got that far, going back downstairs did not make much sense, when the studio is on the 3rd floor. I would send out a plan of the Centre and invite the audience to make their way to Cafe Rouge.

Size of the Audience: Would I be right in thinking that Wednesday night was about 15 – 20? At the dress rehearsal, the “booking-in” lady told me she was expecting 35 people. In the event only a dozen or so of us MSE members turned up and the audience was augmented with staff from the Whiteley centre. Is the message “Don’t put your name forward unless you really mean to turn up”- :mad: or did the director on the night feel that a smaller audience worked better for him?

Cloakroom security: Perhaps I am paranoid, but I did find myself the custodian of three other peoples’ cloakroom tickets and a wallet. Travel light; don’t bring your best leather coat and Prada handbag?

On your feet in the heat & excitement: Beware of doing a Marie Osmond. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OGGC5NPH514&feature=related

Finally: Double prepositions. Here are three examples: I saw a light off in the distance.
I'm off to work. I got it off of the internet.
When I left school, the second job I had was in a factory (It is not much fun on a building site in January). It was an engineering factory in Molesey. A worker would be given the drawings and instructions to set his widget machine and make (say) 20 off; which rather begged the question “off of what?”, until the raw material was delivered. English does not have a unit of measurement meaning “number”. The Americans use “#” for written instructions, English engineering seems to have used “off”.

What ever the origin of the expression, I think Liz would be a little bit less Liz, if she read a received pronunciation version of what she wanted to say, from an Autocue.

Harry.

"It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him." -
-- George Bernard Shaw

MARTINS_DOLL

Loved the show....

fabulous info...

Thank you Martin ~ x

Merlot

MARTINS_DOLL wrote: »

Loved the show....

fabulous info...

Thank you Martin ~ x

MARTINS DOLL - Are you after brownie points? You posted something similar to this a few pages back (page 3) and you are attempting to get Martin nominated for a knighthood as well, do you have a crush on Martin?:D. I'm sorry to inform you that he is getting married to Lara, the channel 5 weather presenter...

leesharp

Hi
sometimes C5 repeat there shows on a Sunday,hope this helps
Lee

sassi

you can get it on torrent sites - some tv ones are not illegal. they have it on some for definate......