It's on!!
 

Wanted Down Under has finally started (not that I've been waiting all week)

... do they go to Newcastle? Please please please!!

Wanted Down Under
 

The long awaited new series as started on BBC1 0915 today may get some good ideas before leaving.

:D

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If you're going to Sydney, any way.... :(

Was really hoping they would pick Newcastle! Does anyone know if there is another one with Newcastle on it? I did have a quick flick through the other thread but it is sooooooo long!!

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Waiting for the one in Melbourne but it could be good info for a lot of people.:rolleyes:

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Nice to see some footage of Eastern Creek quarantine station, however brief.

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I've sky+ed the series so will watch in the evenings... hope its worth the disk space!

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We've set the video so hope its worth watching later.

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I think you may have to watch each episode to find out where they are heading, - I've just tried the info button on sky on various dates but they don't give location just names of people wanting to try 'downunder', still looks like I've just got out of the housework for 9.15-10am for the next week!!
S xx

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Well I have just watched it.

I won't give my oppinion untill those who have recorded it have watched it tonight.

Danny:cool:

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What an absolute pile of bile! Would give it a miss, seemed very pro Aus, as they have a lunch breaks, year round sunshine, markets and beaches :rolleyes: And in UK they have nothing like that and work long hours etc etc etc :zzz:
Saw Aus through very rose tinted specs, missed family within one week, all very bizarre.
Did not give a balanced view and typical day time telly :D

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Hi all,
Newbies here, just watched the program and its great if thinking about emigrating.
We are 14 months into our application and just found out we cannot get state sponsorship for Queensland. They have told us we can go to Canberra but now we are stuck on the part where we have to explain why we want to go there. Any help will be appreciated. we would love to go to the sunshine coast and have plenty of reasons for that but we have heard Canberra is not that nice to live. I have family in Adelaide and they say thats where all the politicians are and there is no night life. someone please help us, the plan is to get to Canberra, acheive citizenship and then move to where we would like to be. Also the reason we have to go to Canberra is that they say thats where my husbands trade is needed but when we look for jobs there is none. Whereas when we look for jobs at the sunshine coast there are plenty. arrhhh
Beaumonts

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Do you want to be on the sunshine coast badly enough to live at least two years (possibly four, if the new legislation comes in) in a place that you think is "not that nice to live"?

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I did watch it, largely out of boredom & a vague interest (liked the quarantine bit!) but I think you are right about it being v pro-Aus. Not a balanced view. But then it is all about people who are excited about making the big move, so I suppose that is natural.
Wonder if the Aussie tourist board paid for all their flights?!

(See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbzMFTWxJmI ! :D But only watch it if you have an open approach to colourful language!)

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Hi, We're quite new at this too, just had our 136 visa app lodged today. Just wanted to say we're off to Canberra too. We've had the same as you as far as being told that its where all the politicians go. We've got friends there though and they seem to like it. Saying that, if its your only way into Oz and its what you really want to do then you probably only have to stick it out for a certain amount of time before you can move somewhere else anyway.

Our plan is to start off in Canberra then move to the Gold Coast, although our visa won't restrict us anyway. We just think it'll be a good idea to have a friendly face when we get to Oz.

Best of luck with your plans

Tasha x

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Do you want to be on the sunshine coast badly enough to live at least two years (possibly four, if the new legislation comes in) in a place that you think is "not that nice to live"?


In a word Yes, I can only go on the info I have been given. Thats why I have come on the net to gain more info and other peoples veiws on canberra. To be fair everyone is different and enjoy different things so wont really know if we like it until we get there. We are planning on doing a little travelling before we settle down to get more of an idea of where we would like to be. at the end of the day we are doing this in search for a better life for us and our daughter and we are still young enough to come back to england if we dont like it. An expensive experience but an experience all the same.

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Thanks tasha,
Good luck with you too, maybe we can hook up for a beer when we are there.
:beer:

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:beer: Sounds good. All this visa and moving lark sounds like it gets very stressful.

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i thought it was a a great program. i loved it. australia looks really nice.

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They did show a lot of lovely (and quite expensive) houses, and lovely shops, lovely beaches, etc etc.
We should bear in mind that there are plenty of other bits of Australia that they chose not to show.

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I to agree with your thoughts on the programme, not everyone will have that kind of budget. Having everything set up for you when you get there is a great help but not much fun when you get off plane with 3 young kids , a bundle of suitcases and not really sure where you are going! How would you feel after 6 months away from family members let alone 1 week. That programme made it a stress free move which definetly wont be the case for us.

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I haven't seen it yet, videoed it to watch this evening. But they do only have five mornings to show Australia, so I suppose they are going to the places most people move to. I was there a year and still didn't see it all:D

Dolly

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Yes of course, but I didn't just mean places they didn't show- also aspects that they didn't show. The focus was very much on the positive things.
No mention of jetlag, for example! No people being unfriendly or rude, nobody suffering in the heat, etc. All normal things, I would have thought, but no hint of them in the 'perfect Australia' programme. (! I'm not slating it, I just was aware that it did come across as very onesided.)

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I think "the focus" as you put it, is always going to be on how the particular family experience their one week in wherever.
For this particular family, their week in Sydney was positive.
Quite possible that the family didn't suffer jetlag. I don't suffer from it either. So, if you made a programme with me in it, there would be no mention of jetlag either.
They were only there one week! And everything they did was pre-arranged by the BBC (e.g. working for one day in the hair salon). The family didn't have much of a chance to meet anybody rude.
One of the participants said that it was filmed in September (in the Barbie). Syney is probably not very hot in September.

Overall, I think you have to bear in mind that the programme is not meant to be a documentary or "balanced". It is intended to give the totally subjective views of families who've spent one week in a particular part of Australia. On top of that, remember that we don't get to see all footage - just the edited version. One of the participants may have said something in a particular context, but when it's edited it comes out completely different from the way it was intended.

I am really looking forward to seeing all 20 episodes. But I look on it as entertainment and an opportunity to see a few "bits" of Oz, especially to see Perth again where we're headed, nothing more.

Gina

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:D

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Gina - whoa! I'm not slagging it off at all, just saying it was not balanced. You are right, it is a reflection of one family's experience, so it will always be subjective. I did think the narrative was biased too.
It will be interesting to see how the rest of the series unfolds.

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I watched it this morning as I had a rare day off.
I enjoyed watching it - the family seemed really nice.
I agree with other posters though that it doesn't give a balanced view.
They spend one week there and it's all set up for them so of course they have a great time.
It's well worth watching to see places though. Does anyone know when a Melbourne one will be on?

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I haven't seen it yet (videoed) but I don't expect it to be a particularly balanced view. They only have week to show these people round and give them an idea of the place, and of course they are going to show them the nicest bits. I just want to see the areas they are going to.

Dolly:)

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I'll be eagerly awaiting this one, so I can see all the nice places I missed when there and not see any of the grotty areas I went to :p

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Did someone post on here that there are 20 episodes? I thought it was just this week.

Dolly

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Does anyone know if today's episode (Sydney) will be repeated on any of the other BBC digital channels or have a copy that can be e-mailed?

As I was in work I asked the wife to record it (as she has nothing else to do once the kid is in school!) and she only went and forgot. Probably too busy applying nail polish or whatever housewifes do!:rolleyes:

Cheers,
Martin

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I missed it today too. My sodding video has given up so I'm going to have to ask my parents to tape it onto DVD and post it to me.

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We've read somewhere that there will be 20 episodes........ Just waiting for the Melbourne ones!

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Watching it now and she said its 20 episodes at the start

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OK...I thought it was great ENTERTAINMENT........

Look, the family wanted to love it, they were shown great things, great lifestyle and did love what they were shown.

Of course everyone who does a reccie (and who eventually move to Australia) have to cut their cloth accordingly.....not everyone has $1m to spend on a house.

I'm sure that the remaining 19 programmes will show some people who have a budget of $400-500k for a house and I'm sure there may be families who will choose to stay in the UK. This was the first programme of 20 (there are 20 shows.....checked sky+ and it's on next Monday....with a butcher!) andI'd say the worst thing about it was the fact that 't was given a daytime slot.

As for saying that the BBC/Family should have mentioned the fact that the family might have experienced 'jet-lag' etc.!! Might they also have suggested that there's a 'bit of hassle' involved in exchanging £'s for $'s??? Or that it's really 'quite inconvenient' that there's a 'rather annoying' time difference between the UK and Oz?

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Its alright the program. Slightly repetitive and i hope the format is not so rigid for the rest of the episodes.... or follow the same trail or all missing family etc.... la de da. And the amount of repeated clips all the way through are a little boring.

On a plus side the woman said she was 37, she looks great for her age ;) As a youngster i'd chat her up!

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Well, yes, if they were going to give a balanced view then they should.
I agree with you that it was entertainment, and as daytime TV goes it was alright. I could see it being edited down to half hours for an evening slots.

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i think she said there was 20 families, not 20 episodes?

I didn't like it actually... :( was disappointed, maybe the episode should have been alot longer..Thought they spent Far too much time on teh UK side of things.. I wanted to see more of Oz etc, seeing the family mingling and finding there own way... 1 week wasn't enough .. the Family Talbot, well done, and great choice, to stay...

Congratulations, you look like lovely people.. :D
I hope it all works out for you guys

Bonny

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Hi guys

I haven't used this site for rather a long time but we were one of the families involved in this.

Aussie tourism didn't pay for accommodation although it does seem very pro Aus which is really the intent of the programme to be fair. Families were offered 2 weeks away with filming taking place during one of those and the family had to make their own arrangements including accommodation requirements for whichever week they weren't being filmed. We were filmed the day we arrived for the rest of the first week and I was so knackered I couldn't find my makeup never mind put any on so I look like a zombie until the last day. Maybe the first family had already had a week there hence being quite refreshed. The video messages from home are built up more than that and the reflecting on the trip that we did took hours as we were quizzed by the director over and over again. I cried, went to go and powder my nose and was dragged back with him screaming "Where are you going? This is great telly, come back!"

20 families went from a variety of occupations on the skilled occupations list, not necessarily the modl. Each family is supposed to have its own programme and the destinations available were: Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide. Families were asked to indicate how much they would spend on a property in their chosen place and everything was tailored towards that. We aren't planning to spend $1 million more, more like $350 000.

Programmes are on for the next 4 weeks, same time although I thought there would be more information on the programme considering how much filming they did but maybe it depends. I agree it does give a very superficial view of life down under and that's a shame as the opportunities were great. Until the show I hadn't been although I had started the process so it was a useful thing to have done. I got alot out of going but for people here watching the show, it doesn't contain half as much information as we were led to believe it would. I was really disappointd with the first show but then again I am not a hairdresser nor do I plan to go to Sydney so maybe someone who is might have got more out of it than me...

Hope you enjoy the other programmes x

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Hi Libby,

thanks for posting your experience with the programme. I think all the families were very brave to do this, as you can never know how the programme makers edit you.

Looking forward to the other 19 programmes.

Gina

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Hi Libby, I really enjoyed watching the programme and look forward to the next 19 episodes! Really pleased about that because I thought there was only 5 programmes.

I'm not bothered about the balance of the programme as I have already made my mind up about Oz, but its really interesting to see how others feel about their pending moves. I felt really sad for the family in the first programme, its a shame that the other daughter didn't want to go. Hope it all works out for them anyway. :)

Where are you heading Libby?


Jackie