"New Series of Time Commanders" Topic

Just saw an advert for a new series of Time Commanders to start in December on BBC 4.

A new series? Amazing! I thought everyone had forgotten that programme. It was on a very long time ago….

With Greg Wallace of Masterchef and famed greengrocer as presenter!

See bit.ly/2gkTSjJ and bbc.in/2gkZfiQ

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Martin Stephenson
The Waving Flag | Twitter | eBay

A couple of friends and I applied to be on this new series. They didn't go for it…

If they must get someone who knows sod all about the subject matter to present the show; they should've got Kate Humble, at least she's easier on the eye. Saving grace is that it ain't Dan Snow!

That was a sort of guilty pleasure for me, really naff, with a slightly embarrassing premise but quite entertaining if there was nothing else on.

A bit like Total Wipeout

Greg Wallace, why oh why?

Because wargaming doesn't get tougher than this? 😁😁

Mollinary

Saving grace is that it ain't Dan Snow!

Thanks be to God!

I also applied along with some mates….

submitted the application and never heard a word

I expect the 'players' to be complete noobs – have no idea of military history and work for one of the big supermarkets.

Hope that Mike Loades features…

Greg Wallace – met him in real life – he's a nice enough chap if you get past the ego

Greg Wallace – Better than Dan Snow!!!
But overall a definate NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO1 from me.
I will probably watch it for self-harming purposes.

Is this the show that uses the Total War game engine?

Is TW a good simulator or are there better ones out there?I used to like the first one if I remember correctly the teams had to have a CIC and the others had control of wings and centre for example. There used to be some interesting interactions. Then I believe at the end of the show they used to show how the battle had actually take.
I prefer Battleground with Woodward where you had chaps in ties and a fantastic amount of sarcasm between friends.

Greg Wallace? The egg on legs? No thanks!

Kate Humble? Yes Please!

Nooooooooooooooooo. What a shame.

Greg Wallace is an inspired choice for a programme about fighting. After all he was a Millwall hooligan in the 1980s!

Oh God, Mike Loades IS one of the presenters. Things have just gone down hill.

I used to supply Kate Humble with items for her 'farm'.She could never take the trouble to get the name of the items right,usually forgot to pay, and once rang me whilst I was in a meeting so I politely said I was thus engaged and would she mind calling later? All I got was a snorted harrumph! down the phone, never heard from her again. Thank God.Typical TV luvvie. Sorry to shatter anyones dreams.
As for the prog, I shall view it through squinted eyes I think, or through my fingers. I wonder how long after the opening titles have passed before Greg calls someone 'mate'?

Well that could have been a lot worse!

Wallace wasn't too much of a pain and a decade of improvement in computer grapihics made a world of difference.

Quite looking forward to the next one!

And the Sandhurst expert has had a sex change!! Didn't see that coming during some military lectures …

Best viewed as a bunch of guys playing Total War – Rome II, hindered as much as possible by experts.

That was great fun , I wonder if the BBC was setting up a bunch of well spoken boardgamers vs Scottish punk wrestlers ( the Mrs was hoping for actual studio violence ) . Not sure about Greg Wallace though ( getting in the way and talking over everyone ) , at one point he clearly told Hannibal what Scipio was doing .

Thought it was ok, nice to make it head to head rather than a team versus the computer, and the side material on combat techniques was effective enough. Greg Wallace seems partly there to induce some additional stress on the part of the players – by shouting the bleeding obvious at them like an excited sports commentator. Hope they make more, that set can't have been that cheap!

Well they have only signed up for three. Maybe they thought it might be a complete bomb and so are taking a cautious approach?

It was pretty good- Greg Wallace aside! He brought very little to the program.

I thought Greg Wallace was a good host, remember not everyone watching it is an Arm Chair General, I thought he and the Two experts worked well together.

Just watched Episode 2.

Bloody Hell that was embarrassing!

I now understand why the previous series stuck to Ancients – Horse and Musket in this format is a disaster! A crude division into Horse, Foot and Guns just leads to an unhistoric shambles.

The view for the TV audience was chronic, tiny flags dotted all over the terrain with no idea as to what they were or were they were going.

This distance view is OK with two Ancient armies just crashing into each other but the fluidity that the two armies were allowed in this Waterloo game reduced the whole thing to a confused jumble.

Total rubbish!

Thank God we are back to Ancients next week, although as one of the armies is likely to be more cavalry than anything, who knows what that's going to look like!

'Waterloo' was bad, wasn't it?

I didn't mind the 1st episode, thought it had more positives than negatives, but the 2nd episode with Waterloo.

No. Very much indeed a no.

Even the 'Field Team' of experts began to grate on me this time.

I'm glad it wasn't just me – I watched Waterloo last night, having missed the first episode, and thought it was dire: it just didn't work at all. I still have no idea how Napoleon came to be surrounded by Prussian cavalry – did he charge them all by himself?

He sneaked off without any of the Imperial Guard noticing, to go and play in the sand pit and found himself surrounded by Prussian hussars – and his death went completely unnoticed.

I have to say the first episode grated after a while. I stuck it up the the battle itself, and then had to delete. In fact I'd had the sound off for the previous five minutes and was fast forwarding through the parts where Ms (?) Nybacher appeared.The whole mannerisms, the voice, the hair, just made me feel slightly ill.Sorry Ms Nybacher.
I taped episode 2, but after seeing the comments I might just go straight to delete on that one.

Believe me, where the second episode is concerned transgender presenters are not a consideration, regardless of any take one might have on the matter.

Indeed, very much a "no". :-(

Prof Alice Roberts' Digging For Britain was the preceding program.
From the sublime to the ridiculous.
Even Mike Loades and his chums playing with weapons can't save Time Commanders.

Ep.2 & Waterloo – it proved to me the Total War format just can't do Napoleonics. Cavalry hacking around like Panzers, demolishing everything. And absolutely no need to worry about flanks and troop disposition. It looked like a Junior School Lego-fight.

As for the Herbert who grabbed the cavalry sabre, I'd be so glad my 1796 sword-blade was now covered in your grubby paw-prints. Nearly all of it, so irritating – I'm not planning to watch Episode 3.

Greg Wallace what a F#ck wit!
His lack of knowledge and his bluster and out burst are irritating at best.
The program would be a dam-sight better without him.

I would like to know why BBC did not ask Eddie Mair to front it like last time.

I watched episode 3 on Iplayer over the xmas break with my 2 sons (both figure and computer gamers).
Ok so the total war engine is dated?
Greg Wallace does what he is hired to do: be over enthusiastic
and present the show.
What about Lynette, she's upped the BBC's diversity quotient
but she is still Dr Nusbacher with all that knowledge so just get over it and start living in this century.

Don't forget this is Television not some you tube vlog by someone who does not even have the voice for radio.

So the use of at least one of the teams of non gamers satisfies our need for the circus maximus spectacle or epic fail.

So grognards what do you expect.

It was light entertainment ,no more no less.

I quite enjoyed it , found it frustrating, found it entertaining, found people making the same mistakes on total war as I do.

Well, who'd have thought there was a subject Gregg Wallace knew even less about than fine dining and Michelin cuisine?

My Brother-in-law has a mild passing interest in military history but is not a wargamer or "serious" hobby-ist -so is probably representative of their target audience. He knows that I have a major interest in matters military.
He asked me if I'd seen it, and said "I just wanted to check with you if you thought it was as rubbish as I did."

The big missed opportunity was that there was no sign of Jet out of Gladiators.