wreck detectives, bloody americans!!

[ootini]

why do they then feel the need to treat the veiwer as a complete f*&k wit by pretending that there findings are completley ground breaking

You mean like Phillipe Cousteau, Paul Rose, Tooney Maho and the other one did in BBC's Oceans?

[hugoboss]

Especially Phillipe Cousteau

[MarkP]

To be fair, they had joined the war by the time this event occured - just

June 1919? Oh yeah, I see what you mean...

[stewy41]

You mean like Phillipe Cousteau, Paul Rose, Tooney Maho and the other one did in BBC's Oceans?

exactly like that, a holes ! it cant be that hard to do monty halls is ok at it

[Sonicthediver]

If it was Richie Kohler et al, forgive them as they wrote a cracking book called "Shadow Divers" - worth reading - appreciate they can seem a little OTT at times, but they do have the credentials behind it all.

They didn't write it.......

yes its worth a read.....

Gary Gentile didn't like it much (read Shadow Divers Exposed)....

Wouldnt question anyones credentials until they proved themselves a f*ckwit...

Saw the TV series when it first run (well the bit's I could stand) and wasn't impressed, same with Tooooney and co in Oceans.

Then again maybe I'm just picky.

[bobwilsonsaa421]

yes it is a good read but so isthe viz mag. did yuo see the one they did on the duke when they interveiwed ray & bernie ? it only told a tiny bit of the story .if bern could only blagg it like them 2 then that would be a good read. bob

[Hazel W]

The Scapa program is a real belly laugh ......saw it for the first time a couple of years ago and couldnt stop giggling at the crap hypothesis (x2)
all I can say is that TV made for american audiences can be a little silly at times (understatement of the year)

H

[GaryC]

Personally I don't think any of the Wreck Detective type programmes are much cop. They are all hyped up to make things look more exciting. (or even exciting.) That goes for the UK ones too. But they can be a good laugh sometimes.

I watched one a few years ago when they were uncovering a wreck at the end of the sound of mull. I realised that the view of the shore had a transit that I had put into my log book. (Yes sad I know) THen got look book out and could not believe what they were saying. They appeared to make out they had just discovered this thing that was nothing more than 8 cannons and a lump or two of metal. I think they found some sort of trinket though.

In my log book I found 36 cannon so you can tell how close together and borring the dive was. (Going round in circles)

What took 10 minutes to dive was dragged out to an hours TV programme.

At least the Scapa programme (although hyped up) would probably be quite interesting to our saviours of the free world.

Gary

[Roz]

I worked on a number of the Deep Sea Detectives programmes, including the Scapa Flow one.

You are quite right in observing that the series was aimed at non-diving home viewers, hence the uncomplicated and repetitive format of the programme. As many of us are not familiar with this style of programming it can make for challenging viewing.

I do have a couple of points to make about this programme. Firstly the Production Team really did their work and would put together strong stories that were well researched and backed up with interesting experts. On the Scapa Flow story they flew across the Grandson of Von Reuter and interviewed him. (At 90, the son was too fragile to travel). I learnt that the Von Reuter family would hold an annual cocktail party on the 21st June to celebrate the scuttling of the fleet and the top Navy brass would attend, including Dönitz.

The offspring of the children who observed the sinking were also interviewed. For those of you who don't know, on the 21st June 1919 a party of local school children were given as a special treat - a tour of the High Seas Fleet by boat. When the ships began to sink the children were overjoyed because they thought this was being done to entertain them. Great story!

Filming Scapa Flow was hard. We had the most atrocious weather and in fact had to can diving in the Flow one day it was that bad, and the beauty of the Flow is that it is incredibly sheltered. It was very long hours (07.00 – 22.00), a very professional crew and exhausting work in cold, snowy conditions.

I observed that John and Richie knew their stuff and prior to filming each programme they did their own homework and conducted background research.

I abhor sloppy scripting and research. "Trimix is a mixture of three gases that blend as the diver descends down the line", from M1, Journeys To The Bottom Of the Sea.

These shows sold very well throughout the World because of the format. "Here is a wreck. What is the mystery?" As divers we pretty much know the answer, but not everyone does. And one should remember that the programme buyers always demand a format and this one worked for them.

If this programme has helped educate/inform others who have little concept of history in other countries, then this is a good thing. It's also great if it's opened their eyes to the wonderful world of diving. Perhaps they might take up the sport because of it.

[ootini]

I don't think anyone (well not me) was slating the production crew, I just wish it didn't have to be this way. But I'm sure a non-glorified / non-simplified show wouldn't be anywhere near as interesting to a lay person.