Anyone watching that Kevin McCloud programme?

[SwedishEdith]

Missed the beginning - are they living on that island alone? What are the kids going to do when they're teenagers?

Article in the guardian about the chilie family, they live 20mins away from the town & have wifi , Internet etc.

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/16/kevin-mcclouds-escape-to-the-wild-review

This para from the Guardian review pretty much sums up the whole series for me:

"After an hour in the saddle, in a woodland clearing, he chances across the Pickerings of London – Lucy, Jago and their three kids, and the truck they’re living in while they build their house …

Whoa, hang on. Truck?! If that bloody great thing could get up here, why couldn’t Kevin’s driver in a very capable looking 4x4 pickup? And what are those overhead lines? Electricity perhaps? (Later confirmed by Jago.) I’m beginning to think this might be Kevin McCloud’s Escape to the Not Quite As Wild As It’s Making Out, and that the horse wasn’t necessary. A couple of minutes with a well-known search engine reveals, on the site the Pickerings use to find volunteers to help with their build, that they live a 20 minute DRIVE from the town of Pucon, the adventure capital of Chile."

The most disappointing thing for me about the Belize setup was that they're still sending their kids to school. I don't understand that at all. He was very much anti the whole treadmill culture of London but still buys into its basis evidently. He bemoaned how little time they had with the kids in London, and how much they enjoyed things like trips to the river at the end of the programme; yet presumably if the kids said on a Tuesday morning "oh it's a really nice day let's go to the river" the answer would be "no, you've got school" :/

And why did Kevin travel on the bus?

We are watching tonight on catch up. I am about the whole thing. It looks grim, not idyllic.

Nice shiny blue pick-up. They are obviously not completely penniless!

And if they can get the kids to school in the pickup, why was Kevin hacking through the jungle in the dark on his arrival?

These people are all fucking morons.

DH and I thought that was bollocks for the cameras, Giddy. We'd put money on the husband coming to fetch him & show him the way back through the jungle, or even driving him!

Its so stupid though, to pretend its all so stark and isolated. I mean do they think that people wont have travelled to that exact spot in belize and know that there are very accessible routes to their house? or that people wont know those people and know they do indeed have money. Why are we being treated like idiots who dont have access to google earth and online newspaper/blogs/social media were we can find out exactly who easy or difficult it actually is to get there and live there.
Glad those kids went to school, it was getting a bit weird that the parents were so anti "rat race" and i worried the kids were being isolated from other children/people. Glad they werent.

It does feel like a magazine supplement brought to the screen. A glossy view of the 'dream'. Splendid isolation in a idyll of Eden. Whereas they're tucked around the corner from civilisation as much as people building a home in rural Britain.

I found that Belize one quite uncomfortable to watch for some reason- can't quite work out why.

I thought there was a hint of 'Heart of Darkness' about the father. I couldn't help wondering if he'd taken a lot of coke during his publishing career. There was slight whiff of paranoia about his behaviour, especially when he let off a round in the woods. You'd shoot into the air, wouldn't you? Not him! He could have actually shot and injured/killed someone by firing directly into the jungle.

yes- dustbunny I see what you mean. I think the father's odd behaviour and strangely distant facial expressions were the source of my discomfort. I even felt sorry for Kevin who seemed to be more than usually unsure of himself in that environment.

Agree about the coke. I'd said the same to dh about 5 minutes in. It was his recovery or possibly it meant he could be quietly coked up away from the mainstream.

Dust - Dh and I said exactly the same! He didn't look a well man at ALL for someone who was living his dream. Reminded me of the Dad in The Poisonwood Bible.

I found that Belize one quite uncomfortable to watch for some reason- can't quite work out why.

The parents were weird. The woman was too happy. The man very clearly had unresolved issues. Got the impression he suddenly had to leave britain and they have convinced themselves its all on their own terms and a lovely story of creating their own paradise. Thats their story and theyre sticking to it.

The woman had an irritating bemused expression all the time, as though she felt sorry for Kevin that he couldn't understand why they'd want to live there. He'll be dead moody and difficult to live with.

She was a bit 'happy'. And used to work in theatre?
Mind you despite all the raised eyebrows about the parents, the children looked great. They looked healthy and happy. And it sounds like the son at least gets back to the UK sometimes.

Reminded me of the Dad in The Poisonwood Bible.

Oh yes!

"Bliss; bliss has been found."

I think this week's one might actually appeal to me.

I cant belive they havent gone into kevins cabin and started a fire to at least warm it through before they put him in there!

Damn it! We've missed the first 20 minutes. What have we missed? Which country are this week's crazies living in? How long did it take Kevin to get there?

54 huskies? I bet they're doing husky sled rides for tourists?