For a welcome change - a bouquet rather than a brickbat for TV.
Last night saw the final episode of "Life on Mars" on BBC1 - apart from a bit too much talking to white noise on the radio, a thoroughly satisfying conclusion to a gripping drama that dared to be a bit different from all the common formulae today. To someone who remembers the 70s first-hand, the period detail was very evocative, and the use of the storyline to compare past and present attitudes was, I thought, very telling. Like Sam, I can't help thinking that we have gone too far the other way in our relentlessly PC and safety-obsessed age.
(Perhaps it should be made compulsory viewing for all those bleating about reparations and apologies for slavery: the past is indeed another country that we can never revisit, except in memories.)
And a belated pat on the back for Channel 4 too. Remember that once upon a time they used to rival BBC2 (as it was then) for programmes that covered serious subjects? Well, on Easter Monday, we had quite a treat: a documentary about how English translations of the Bible affected English history and literature. Presented by Rod Liddle, it was an intelligent look at what might seem a dry subject, but was in fact full of interest.
Only marred by pointless out-of-focus wobblycam reconstructions - do they really think that the people who find this topic of interest will be impressed by such cheap fillers? Better the shorten the prog. by 30 minutes and "leave it aht", as Arthur Daley used to say.
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