Global Village

Global Village takes us to the far corners of the globe where we will discover that the world really is an amazing place. Weekdays 6.00pm

Thalassa (meaning 'sea' in Greek) brings you stories of the seas of the world and their effect on people and places from the four corners of the globe. Sundays 6.00pm

Mull of Kintyre Isn't Ireland, Laddie!

05 June 2009 | 0:00 - By Silvio Rivier

If I said, ‘Mull of Kintyre’ how many of you would know what it is? I'd guess the majority of you, if you weren't of British extraction, would have said it’s the hit song by Paul McCartney and his band WINGS. Correct! But what IS the Mull of Kintyre? It’s a Scottish Peninsula. Why is it a song? Because Sir Paul McCartney lived and had a recording studio there since the late 1960’s. He must have loved the place! I write this, as it’s not mentioned in the program about the Irish coastline. Hang on! Mull of Kintyre is in Scotland, laddie!

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One of the challenges of being a TV presenter (or in my current incarnation as Presenter/Producer/Narrator of GLOBAL VILLAGE) is to be able to introduce a program to the viewer by hooking them in from the beginning with a one-liner or paragraph that (one hopes) will keep the viewer glued to the box or flat HD screen, and prise them away from other channels.
 
The truly magnificently shot series, WORLD’S COASTLINES FROM ABOVE, a minute and a half into the program about the coastline of Ireland, starts out with the words, “We leave behind us the larger isle of Great Britain…and fly out over the Scottish Peninsula known as the Mull of Kintyre”. This might imply that we just spent some time in Great Britain before flying off. But we didn't. Confused? I’ll come back to this.

Another challenge is not to draw attention to things that may confuse. Well as I did not produce the series WORLD’S COASTLINES FROM ABOVE (I re-voice it, introduce it and package it for the Australian broadcast on SBS) and as this is a BLOG, where the moderator tells me I can go beyond where no TV presenter has gone before, I feel it’s as good a time as any to explain certain things to you, the viewer, that cannot be done in the presenter's seat for a variety of reasons - time constraints, the fact that episodes are pre-recorded a few weeks in advance and so on. 

 
As for the “confusion” I mentioned in the third paragraph, you the viewer, on hearing the line, “We leave behind…Great Britain…and the Scottish Peninsula…Mull of Kintyre” might say hang on, where is it? Let me reassure you here and now that nothing was cut out of that bit, which makes me then ask why did the writer of the series word it so that a viewer may well think we just visited Scotland and Great Britain before heading for Ireland? And for what purpose? As this is the first episode of the series it makes it even more mystifying.
 
Even if I received a response from the producer, the segment itself is so brief that it wouldn’t merit spending time explaining it on air. Thank goodness for the BLOG!
 
I’ll use this forum to explain those little things that crop up which I otherwise couldn’t do in the program itself for the reasons I’ve outlined.
 
The Mull of Kintyre example is one of those little things that you just can’t draw attention to when introducing a program but which nonetheless does deserve an explanation. And I feel its things like this that viewers do want explained and this Blog is the way to go. Let me know if I’m wrong.
 
Let’s give three cheers for the BLOG and its opportunities for two-way communication!

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Comments (14)

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17 Apr 2010 18:05 AEST

Hannah

From: Claremont wa

WORLD’S COASTLINES FROM ABOVE

We cannot tell you how much we absolutely love the world's coastline series-Silvio can you please show the series again or when the DVDs will be made available ? Please please please ...

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13 Jul 2009 16:41 AEST

Bill Gill

From: Avoca Beach NSW

Coastlines from the air

When will these programmes be re-broadcast and will DVDs be available?

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02 Jul 2009 20:41 AEST

Ted Hanson

From: Claremont WA

Global Village

I have watched both Global Village and Thalassa for quite a while now and rarely miss an episode. I don't know if it's my TV but Silvio's voice always seems to out of sync with his mouth, has anyone else noticed this or is it just me.

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30 Jun 2009 18:32 AEST

Jenn

From: Melbourne

Cooking segments

I've noticed that all the male chefs on your show have the filthiest fingernails of all time. They seriously put me off! Can we have male French chefs with clean fingernails please!!!

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13 Jun 2009 15:42 AEST

Pat Day

From: Perth WA

Video

Silvio, we enjoyed the series of coastlines from the air, of which Mull was one part Please is there a video of that series?

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07 Jun 2009 14:49 AEST

Catherine Duc

From: Melbourne

An Irish Promenade: beautiful sceneries

Hi Silvio, I really loved this episode of the aerial views of Ireland. I visited Ireland last Summer and I enjoyed recognising the places I went to such as the Giant's Causway. There were also the more remote places I'd love to go to like the Aran Islands. This was very inspiring and I enjoyed the Irish music too. Are the producers looking for original instrumental music for the series by the way? If so, could you please let me know as I'm a freelance composer. Thanks, Catherine

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05 Jun 2009 10:57 AEST

Silvio Rivier

From: SBS

IRELAND (for Capt. Underpants & Follow-up)

Hey folks, just click on the VIDEO bar at the top (after the weekdays) and it's there together with other eps from this week. It won't be replayed on television though as the series has only 2 runs, and its the second run that's on air presently.

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05 Jun 2009 10:14 AEST

Follow-up

From: Sydney

When will it be replayed?

I love this, when will it be replayed back on TV?

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05 Jun 2009 9:56 AEST

Captain Underpants

From: I want Ireland

I want Ireland

Hello, when are you going to feature in full Ireland?

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05 Jun 2009 9:52 AEST

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From: dkdgj

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About this Blog

Join Silvio Rivier as he spotlights one of the episodes each week relating to cultures, traditions and lifestyles of people around the world.

Silvio Rivier has been an integral part of SBS since the station first went to air. He is currently the presenter, narrator and producer of the series Global Village.

 
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