Goodness, I wasn't expecting a shout-out.
Thanks for thinking of me! And I did enjoy the podcast very much.
My feelings and experiences of Watership Down seem to have been largely the same as Rosey's, although I believe I started watching the film at a much younger age - we had it recorded off the TV and it was one of the videos I watched repeatedly throughout my childhood. It's surprising that I wasn't turned off by all the gore and death and bleakness - just the sort of thing that normally traumatised me as a kid! - but for some reason I still found it really captivating, even though some bits disturbed me and I didn't understand half of what was going on. (My appreciation has grown steadily as I got older and was able to follow more and more of the story, and grasp the significance of things like Fiver's surreal visions.) It's hard to put into words why I love it so much, but it's something to do with how perfectly it captures both the sadness and the beauty of nature and the cycle of life. I find it incredibly moving these days and cry every time I watch it. Even hearing you quote all those wonderful lines in the podcast gave me goosebumps!
Like Rosey, I failed in my first attempt to read the book as a youngster (I got bored with all the scenery descriptions), but liked it very much as an adult. I read it in 2007 and haven't yet revisited it, so I don't remember every detail, but I hugely enjoyed learning more about the Lapine language and the characters' thoughts and motivations, plus all the extended scenes in Cowslip's warren, etc. It also made me realise what a fantastic job they did with the film adaptation, making the necessary alterations while still retaining the right *feel* of everything. Both versions of the story are brilliant in their own way. The end of the book had me crying floods as well.
I guessed that the film-makers had introduced (and then killed off) Violet because it seems a bit short-sighted to leave the warren without any females, but that's just my own assumption! The scene with the hawk is a good addition I think, illustrating how peril is never far away when you're a rabbit ("
Prince with a thousand enemies...")
Love the whole cast of the film, they all did such a great job - Denholm Elliott's distinctive voice is an inspired choice for Cowslip. Michael Graham-Cox (Bigwig) was also the voice of Boromir in Lord Of The Rings, another childhood favourite of mine.
And I can't imagine a better Hazel than John Hurt (who can apparently do no wrong), or a better Fiver than Richard Briers. It probably goes without saying that Zero Mostel's Kehaar is an amusing highlight!
I vaguely remember trying the CITV series and not liking it - I think I gave up on it after a couple of episodes, though it's possible I saw more and I've just forgotten / blocked it out! Will be "interesting" to see what the new one is like. I can't really see the point of it, since the original can hardly be improved upon (and I'm not keen on them removing all the violence to make it more kiddy-friendly), but I'll probably watch out of curiosity...
I was a big fan of The Animals Of Farthing Wood, so I'll be looking forward to your next episode too!