Welcome Jim and Jean, it sounds like you know what you are coming to in terms of Orkney winters so I'm sure you'll do fine. Others have made suggestions about checking TV schedules. At the moment on one of the "digital" channels there is a re-run of "Bleak House" the Dickens novel, which was great first time round. In the dark winter months I prefer to try and bring some sunshine into my life so enjoy watching programmes about far away places. On BBC2 at the moment Michael Wood is presenting a fascinating programme about India. Natural History - watch out for "Autumn Watch" on BBC with Bill Oddie & Kate Humble. There are programmes throughout the day and night giving live feed on owls, foxes, badgers and all sorts of other UK flora and fauna. It's quite enetertaining although Bill Oddie bouncing around can get a bit irritating. But when they didn "Spring Watch" this year, the late night live broadcasting of foxes in the West End of Glasgow got more viewers than "Big Brother"! Landward & Countryfile on a sunday (about 11am) are also interesting countryside programmes. Landward focuses mainly on Scotland. I too hibernate in the winter, drawing the curtains against the darkness and imerse myself in books, the radio (that way I can wander around the house) and selectively dip into TV. Also check the Orcadian as there are often talks on a variety of topics, and Stromness often have book readings going on. And of course there are always book clubs (I've just joined the one at Stromness Library which is very lively and entertaining). And as incomers, well I'm afraid you may meet with adverse reactions. When I first moved to Orkney 7 years ago I did too - including obscene graffiti - and that was despite my buying a house which had been derelict for 15 years, renovating it only using local labour and putting lots of money into the local economy. Still do as all my work is now from outside Orkney so I continue to bring money into the county. The UK as a whole has an ageing demographic and the problems Charles alludes to occur in other parts of the UK too. But if you experience is anything like mine you will also meet many many Orcadians and incomers who will make you welcome! Sian > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 08:48:04 EST > From: James Thompson <[email protected]> > Subject: [ORCADIA] Orkney winters > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > > Hi all, > > Now that my wife and I have moved to Orkney we're looking forward to > watching British television serials over the long Orkney winter. > Trouble is, most of these have appeared outside of the summers, when > we've been visiting, so we don't know about them. We've discovered > SPOOKS and LIFE ON MARS; but if anyone has others to recommend, we'd > love to hear from you. > > Thanks > > Jim Thompson > Jean Swanson > > [email protected] > > > > >