Blueprint gets a nomination
I am delighted to report that Blueprint, BBC Northern Ireland's TV natural history series, which was broadcast early last year, has been shortlisted in the Celtic Film and Television Awards in the Best Factual Series category. This is terrific news for all of us who worked on the series. The Blueprint team put in many hundreds of hours of work from the research stage, through the writing stage, to filming, post-production graphics, an original score, and so much more. This was one of the biggest projects ever attempted by BBC Northern Ireland, and I can't possibly name everyone involved; but many congratulations to the very talented group of people who made this happen. None of us will every forget this project. I will particularly never forget been lashed to the deck of a Trent Class lifeboat to deliver a piece to camera in a force 10 gale with the series producer directing the ship's pilot to aim for bigger waves. Many congratulations to that same series producer Natalie Maynes, who brought all the elements of this enormous project together quite brilliantly.
Comment number 1.
At 11:12 14th Jan 2009, sharonbel wrote:Congratulations. It was a fantastic show that I watched with my children. I hope it will be shown again this year.
I remember it (absurdly) created some controversy at the time.
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Comment number 2.
At 16:30 14th Jan 2009, The Christian Hippy wrote:Factual did they get the category right.
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Comment number 3.
At 16:37 14th Jan 2009, heretical wrote:Congrats to you and the team Will. It was a great series and deserves recognition. Hope you do well.
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Comment number 4.
At 19:42 14th Jan 2009, Peter wrote:Congratualations William. Well done. A great show with some excellent geology thrown in. I have no doubt Herbie Black would have given it his approval:
https://www.habitas.org.uk/es2k/breaking_news/latestnews7.html
Brian Black then provided a fascinating account of his uncle Herbert, from a family perspective. Instead of the driving (and drinking) force remembered by many Society members, Brian gave us an insight into a still more eccentric character - someone apparently capable of 'selling the family silver' to pay for his legendary summer-long trips to the Alps with his wife Pauline. Brian also seemed somewhat daunted by the prospect of receiving back the residue of Herbie's vast collection of 35mm colour slides, now that the Ulster Museum has completed its selection and cataloguing of some 16,000 images.
The early success of the Belfast Geologists' Society was due mainly to the work of a remarkable individual - Herbert S Black. 'Herbie' was a schoolmaster by profession and it is no exaggeration to say that the Society was his whole life. For nearly four decades he ran the Society almost single-handedly. Herbie was not only a wonderful organiser but also a character in every sense. Anyone who ever met Herbie - whether a member of the Society or one of his pupils at Belfast Model or Annadale - acquired a fund of Herbie anecdotes.
I'm also glad nothing was toned down for Cecil Andrews' "concerned YECs"
Worthy of a repeat and a follow up.
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Comment number 5.
At 11:23 15th Jan 2009, PatrickCorrigan wrote:Well done and well deserved. Let's have a re-run.
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Comment number 6.
At 14:06 16th Jan 2009, Dylan_Dog wrote:Well done Will!
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Comment number 7.
At 15:04 16th Jan 2009, Heliopolitan wrote:Yes indeed - well done. I thought the mammoths were the best bit - the Irish Elk were a tad ungainly in their gait - not sure the animator got the knee joints the right way round.
Incidentally, the closest living relative to the Irish Elk has been found to be the fallow deer: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biology/about-us/in-the-media/irish-elk.html
Some day we might be able to clone one: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126905.000-ten-extinct-beasts-that-could-walk-the-earth-again.html
..and when that happens, you'll be able to see for yourself :-)
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Comment number 8.
At 22:24 18th Jan 2009, pastorphilip wrote:As a TV programme, 'Blueprint' may well have been expertly made, but it seemed to many of us to be long on imagination and special effects and short on fact. Certainly, the monotonous repetition of 'millions of years' in programme 1 was tantamount to brainwashing.
After the broadcasting of the series, we asked Peter Johnston to initiate a similar series in which the evidence on the side of the Creation Model would be presented.
Still waiting...........!
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Comment number 9.
At 23:04 18th Jan 2009, U11831742 wrote:Pastorphilip is not going to enjoy 2009 with all the Darwin commemorations.
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